Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Neil Gorsuch just issued a rare joint statement pushing back on the NPR story that Sotomayor was participating in SCOTUS arguments via video because Gorsuch wouldn’t wear a mask:
NEW: A statement from Justices Sotomayor and Gorsuch:
"Reporting that Justice Sotomayor asked Justice Gorsuch to wear a mask surprised us. It is false. While we may sometimes disagree about the law, we are warm colleagues and friends."
— Adam Liptak (@adamliptak) January 19, 2022
The fact that they released a statement at all tells you how much “they wanted to debunk” the NPR report:
Supreme Court justices do not regularly issue joint statements addressing media gossip claims. They have life tenure; they don’t have to. If they chose to issue a statement, it’s because the claims bothered them. And they wanted to debunk them.
— Sunny McSunnyface (@sunnyright) January 19, 2022
And kudos to Shannon Bream who reported this last night:
And @ShannonBream is well-sourced at SCOTUS. This story smelled weird from the beginning, especially with some of the slippery wording employed re: Gorsuch and Sotomayor. Bream reports it’s untrue. https://t.co/SX75SCHd6W
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) January 19, 2022
Now, it’s time for some corrections!
A story by NPR and then repeated by several outlets like Bulwark and CNN. https://t.co/HnHy2Fx0Jh
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) January 19, 2022
Or even a full retraction:
So…NPR going to retract?
LOL… Of course not. https://t.co/5TXy3PPU1h
— Pradheep J. Shanker (@Neoavatara) January 19, 2022
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What’s even funnier is that a number of blue-checks are trying to find ways to make the original NPR story still true:
"This story isn't true" – Two SCOTUS justices.
"But it FEELS true!" – Every journalist on twitter right now.
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) January 19, 2022
“It’s a united journohack effort”:
It’s a united journohack effort https://t.co/c5MYUuw25N
— Sunny McSunnyface (@sunnyright) January 19, 2022
Some examples:
These very carefully phrased denials always make me suspicious. https://t.co/XjBcYMS0fk
— Dan Froomkin/PressWatchers.org (@froomkin) January 19, 2022
Notice they didn't deny that Justice Roberts asked everyone to wear and mask… https://t.co/3Nd4mEQ3Jj
— Tim Fullerton (@TimFullerton) January 19, 2022
This was not NPR’s reporting, or later reporting, so this joint statement strikes me as a clumsy attempt by the Supreme Court at damage control. https://t.co/hCPkp45ILy
— Cristian Farias (@cristianafarias) January 19, 2022
Can't help but notice that is not what the story alleged https://t.co/2CSQVSqEaI
— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) January 19, 2022
the story said Sotomayor expressed discomfort and that Roberts asked everyone to wear a mask. Not saying the initial story is true. But the denial doesn’t actually get the initial story right. https://t.co/vp8Ztc64SW
— Sam Stein (@samstein) January 19, 2022
The story didn't say that Sotomayor asked Gorsuch to wear a mask. "Sotomayor did not feel safe in close proximity to people who were unmasked. Chief Justice John Roberts, understanding that, in some form asked the other justices to mask up." https://t.co/iUp3sebZS1 https://t.co/rOGCqarZMu
— Sam Levine (@srl) January 19, 2022
Right?
Imagine being two Supreme Court justices issuing a rare statement denying a story, only to find a journohack on Twitter with a BA in French Literature trying to parse your statement’s wording to save the story.
— Sunny McSunnyface (@sunnyright) January 19, 2022
And these journos are missing a big part of the statement by just focusing on the masks:
The "warm colleagues and friends" bit seems directed more at the other parts of the NPR piece, about the court being bitterly divided.
It's not in the piece, but people have thrown around the nine scorpions reference and the justices may not want their names attached to that.
— Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) January 19, 2022
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