After news of former Senator James M. Inhofe’s death broke, the New York Times, the Associated Press, Politico and the Huffington Post all ran headlines critical of him.
Major news outlets were quick to criticize Inhofe, the Oklahoma Republican who died Tuesday at age 89, for his stance on the environment in their obituaries. Inhofe, Oklahoma’s longest serving senator from 1994 to 2023, led the Environment Committee and was known for his strong views on climate change and global warming.
“Former Oklahoma Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe, one of the most ardent climate change deniers in congressional history, has died at age 89, the Tulsa World reported Tuesday.” The Huffington Post writes: The outlet began its article reporting his death by citing Inhofe’s infamous incident in February 2015 when he brought a snowball onto the Senate floor, describing it as “an embarrassing attempt to prove that climate change doesn’t exist.”
of Associated PressThe headline described Inhofe as “a defense hawk who calls human-caused climate change a hoax.”
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Politico said, First Headline, “Former Sen. Jim Inhofe, who called climate change a hoax, has died at 89,” Darin Miller, a spokesman for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), said in a statement, calling the remarks “deeply disturbing.”
Following criticism, Politico changed the story to “Former Sen. Jim Inhofe dies at 89.”
“Politico found the worst possible way to comment on the death of Oklahoma’s longest serving senator and the institution of the Senate,” said Billy Gribbin, a spokesman for Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah.
He continued: “Great, they changed it.”
A Politico spokesperson told Fox News Digital that “headlines are regularly A/B tested and rotated based on a variety of factors, including engagement.”
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The New York Times commemorated his life with the headline “Climate Change Denier Sen. James M. Inhofe Dies at 89.”
Radio host Erick Erickson compared the headlines to the Gray Lady’s obituaries of Democratic senators, such as “Senate heavyweight Edward M. Kennedy dies at 77” and “Senate pillar Robert C. Byrd dies at 92.”
“One killed a woman. Another was a KKK leader. But there’s also this other guy…” Erickson wrote, referring to Kennedy, Byrd and Inhofe, respectively.
“James M. Inhofe, a five-term Republican senator from Oklahoma who was arguably Washington’s leading denier of the established science of man-made climate change until President Donald J. Trump took office in 2017, died Tuesday in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He was 89 years old,” the Times article begins.
During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in September 2015, the late Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) questions retired U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, with Senator James Inhofe listening. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
The paper also described him as “the nation’s most vocal climate change denier, repeatedly claiming it’s a hoax perpetrated by environmentalists, liberals in the media and ‘extremists who simply don’t like capitalism, free markets and freedom.'”
Inhofe died peacefully on Tuesday morning surrounded by his wife, Kay, his children and other family members, a former senior aide told Fox News. Inhofe reportedly suffered a stroke around the time of Independence Day on July 4.
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Fox News Digital also reached out to The New York Times, The Associated Press and Huffington Post for comment.
Fox News’ Greg Norman contributed to this report.
