CNN faced a credibility firestorm Tuesday after its prime-time anchor and its social media team each published separate, factually inaccurate accounts of an ISIS-inspired bombing attempt outside New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s official residence.
The incidents unfolded throughout the day, drawing swift condemnation from media critics, journalists, and ordinary viewers who accused the network of misrepresenting a domestic terrorism case with clear facts already on the public record.
Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, face charges of providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization and use of a weapon of mass destruction.
Both men are U.S. citizens. One suspect’s parents are naturalized U.S. citizens from Turkey, while the other’s parents are naturalized U.S. citizens from Afghanistan.
The two men threw explosive devices at far-right protesters who had assembled outside Gracie Mansion to demonstrate against Mamdani and what they described as the “Islamic Takeover of New York City.”
The explosives failed to detonate, and both men were subsequently arrested.
Mediaite reported that the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton stated, “These were ISIS-inspired actions. Violence, particularly violence that has a terrorist bent, violence that is meant to chill free speech, violence that is meant to prevent us from gathering peaceably, will be met with swift justice.”
Despite those established facts, CNN NewsNight host Abby Phillip described the incident inaccurately during Tuesday’s broadcast while teasing an upcoming segment.
Phillip said on air, “Two Republicans say Muslims don’t belong here after an attempted terror attack against New York’s Mayor, Zohran Mamdani, and the House Speaker, Mike Johnson, says nothing, really, to condemn those comments.”
A guest later on Phillip’s own program corrected the record during the broadcast itself.
“To frame it as an anti-Muslim attack would actually completely reverse what happened,” said guest Joe Borelli.
The on-air error was not the only misstep CNN made that day. Earlier, the network posted content to X that critics said dramatically softened the nature of the attack.
The now-deleted post described the two suspects as “two Pennsylvania teenagers” who “crossed into New York City Saturday morning for what could’ve been a normal day enjoying the city during abnormally warm weather.”
The post drew immediate backlash. Washington Examiner columnist Joe Concha weighed in, describing the network’s coverage as an attempt to cover for the attackers.
CNN pulled the post and acknowledged the lapse.
Fox News reported that the network stated, “A post regarding the two individuals arrested for throwing homemade bombs outside of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s home failed to reflect the gravity of the incident thereby breaching the editorial standards we require for all our reporting. It has therefore been deleted.”
The following morning, Phillip addressed the on-air mistake through a post on X.
“I want to correct something I said last night. The bombs thrown in New York City over the weekend by ISIS inspired attackers was thrown into a crowd of anti-Muslim protestors and not specifically targeted at Mayor Mamdani. That wording was inaccurate and I didn’t catch it ahead of time. I apologize for the error,” she wrote.
Washington Examiner columnist Joe Concha responded on X, stating, “Just to share some inside baseball here… what Abby is saying is her producers wrote her script, put it in prompter, and she didn’t preview it ahead of time despite having ample time to do so as any decent host does.”
Mamdani, who made history as New York City’s first Muslim mayor, had been briefed by senior staff after the clashes began and remained in close communication with NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch throughout Saturday and Sunday.
After the suspects were charged Monday, Mamdani released a statement calling the attacks a “heinous act of terrorism” and adding the two men should be held “fully accountable for their actions,” reported CNN.
