Liberal media outlets are gushing over the new release of undercover recordings taken by a progressive activist of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, his wife, and Chief Justice John Roberts. The liberal activist, Lauren Windsor, pretended to be a religious conservative at a recent dinner hosted by the Supreme Court Historical Society. Other recordings included took place last year.
Some of the supposedly controversial remarks are of Alito agreeing with her suggestion that “people in this country who believe in God have got to keep fighting for that – to return our country to a place of Godliness.” He also said in response to a question about the current polarization in the country, that “one side or the other is going to win. I don’t know. I mean, there can be a way of working, a way of living together peacefully, but it’s difficult, you know, because there are differences on fundamental things that really can’t be compromised. They really can’t be compromised. So, it’s not like you are going to split the difference.”
The activist brought up the left’s latest hit pieces against the Alitos over some of the flags they’ve flown at their residences, and questioned Mary-Ann Alito about it. Additionally, she pressed Roberts, claiming the Supreme Court should be “guiding” the country as a “Christian nation,” a point he disagreed with. “Yeah, I don’t know that we live in a Christian nation. I know a lot of Jewish and Muslim friends who would say maybe not,” Roberts responded. “And it’s not our job to do that. It’s our job to decide the cases as best we can.”
Conservatives like Judicial Crisis Network’s Carrie Severino dismissed the recordings as “pure clickbait” because there’s “nothing…remotely inappropriate” said by Roberts and Alito. Many others agreed.
This is pure clickbait.
— Carrie Severino (@JCNSeverino) June 10, 2024
Nothing in this audio of Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito is remotely inappropriate.
What’s most notable is how both Roberts and Alito said — while being secretly recorded — that it’s not the job of the Court to make policy.
And even in a gotcha… https://t.co/VHbidc2eHB
Progressives playing gotcha — yet again — to delegitimize the Supreme Court.
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) June 10, 2024
In the end, it’s much ado about nothing.
The comments at issue were measured and in no way improper. https://t.co/zvaTH9bzP6
The recordings weren't universally praised on the left, either.
"The View" co-host Joy Behar said she has "a little bit of a problem" with how the recordings were obtained, likening it to Project Veritas's work. But co-host Sunny Hostin took the criticism a step further, noting that she's "uncomfortable with this sort of hitjob" given all that was released were "snippets of tape recordings without consent, being taken out of context..."
SHOCKING: Sunny Hostin calls the deceptively obtained, secretly recorded audio of Alito and Roberts a "hitjob."
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) June 11, 2024
"I also am not comfortable with snippets of tape recordings without consent being taken out of context." pic.twitter.com/q1yiQ1EOPO