#New York Times reporter Donald McNeil Jr. accused of racist comments

The New York Times’ go-to reporter on the COVID-19 pandemic was accused of making offensive comments — including saying the N-word — on a 2019 student trip organized by the newspaper, according to a report on Thursday.

Several of the high-schoolers on the Times’ “Student Journey” to Peru or their parents complained to the paper that Donald McNeil Jr. had allegedly made sexist or racist remarks on the trip, The Daily Beast reported.

“I would change the journalist. He was a racist,” one participant claimed in a review of the trip obtained by the website.

“He used the ‘N’ word, said horrible things about black teenagers, and said white supremacy doesn’t exist.”

Another wrote that: “Not only did Donald say various racist comments on numerous occasions, but he was also disrespectful to many students during mealtimes and in other settings.”

“He made students in the program feel uncomfortable with his remarks,” read another review. “I was really disappointed after hearing great things about his work.”

Two students on the approximately $5,500 trip specifically claimed that McNeil used the N-word and suggested he didn’t believe in the concept of white privilege, according to the report.

Another three reportedly alleged that the journalist made racist comments and used stereotypes about black teenagers.

In a letter to the newsroom, Times editor Dean Baquet said he made the decision to “formally discipline” — but not fire — McNeil after determining the reporter’s intentions were not “hateful or malicious.”

“When I first heard the story, I was outraged and expected I would fire him,” Baquet wrote.

“I authorized an investigation and concluded his remarks were offensive and that he showed extremely poor judgment, but that it did not appear to me that his intentions were hateful or malicious.

“I believe that in such cases people should be told they were wrong and given another chance. He was formally disciplined. He was not given a pass.”

It’s unclear how McNeil was disciplined. A source told the Beast that the top science reporter was reprimanded.

Less than six months after the claims came to light, McNeil was leading the paper’s coverage on the pandemic.

McNeil, who joined the Times in 1976, made key appearances on the paper’s podcast “The Daily” and scored an interview with Dr. Anthony Fauci just earlier this week.

The star journalist has won several awards for his reporting on infectious diseases and a source told the Beast that his COVID-19 coverage is among the Times‘ submissions for this year’s Pulitzer Prize for public-service journalism.

McNeil couldn’t immediately be reached by The Post for comment on Thursday.