Two national media news outlets issued significant retractions Tuesday after being called out for publishing erroneous hit pieces about potential Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett.
As Democrats are already doing and will continue to do if she’s nominated, Newsweek made a beeline for Barrett’s Catholic faith in their article, alleging in the original headline and subsequent piece that Barrett’s “People of Praise group inspired ‘The Handmaid’s Tale.'” A tweet showing that headline is still up:
The headline and piece have since changed, and a correction to the story was issued by Newsweek because, as it turns out, they have no evidence whatsoever to back up their original claim.
Here’s the revised headline (as of this writing):
How Charismatic Catholic Groups Like Amy Coney Barrett’s People of Praise Inspired ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’
And here’s their “correction”:
This article’s headline originally stated that People of Praise inspired ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’. The book’s author, Margaret Atwood, has never specifically mentioned the group as being the inspiration for her work. A New Yorker profile of the author from 2017 mentions a newspaper clipping as part of her research for the book of a different charismatic Catholic group, People of Hope. Newsweek regrets the error.
You’d think that a correction of that magnitude would shame editors into pulling the entire piece. But as the updated headline indicates, Newsweek is going to do whatever they can to keep hope alive that “People of Praise” was the basis for “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
Reuters also went the “Handmaid’s Tale” route with Judge Barrett in a piece noting her “religious community [is] under scrutiny”:
As was the case with Newsweek, Reuters changed the headline and the body of the piece after the backlash that erupted:
David Harsanyi noted the disconnect between what the media was alleging about Barrett and who she actually was:
After all, Barrett’s knuckle-dragging misogynistic religious fanatic husband has only let the poor woman out of the house twice. Once, to serve a 15-year stint as a law professor at a highly prestigious university. And again to slave away as a judge on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
Let us also pause to point out how the media’s/left’s scrutiny of a person’s faith largely depends on what political party they belong to:
Predictably, other news outlets ran with the original story done by Newsweek, ensuring the myth that Barrett wants America to morph into a real-life version of “Handmaid’s Tale” will endure in leftist circles for decades to come:
As to what “People of Praise” are actually all about, Daily Wire did some digging:
The problem? People of Praise’s “handmaids” are little more than spiritual advisors, according to sources familiar with the 1,700-member group that spoke to The Daily Wire.
Daily Caller investigative editor Peter Hasson also weighed in with some first-hand experience:
Does the fact that both Reuters and Newsweek thoroughly embarrassed themselves with their discredited “reports” mean other media outlets will tread more carefully on this subject in the future? Nope:
And even if the media did decide to show some restraint, Senate Democrats have made clear they have no intentions of treating Barrett’s Catholic faith with the same reverence they do Rep. Ilhan Omar’s Islamic faith:
So what are the unintended consequences of all the media’s/left’s bad-faith attacks on Judge Barrett should she be picked as the nominee? A Republican base that is galvanized – big time:
President Trump said yesterday he would be announcing his Supreme Court nominee Saturday at 5 pm EST. Stay tuned.
— Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym “Sister Toldjah” and can be reached via Twitter. —
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