After not-so cleverly trying and failing to get Justice Clarence Thomas to recuse himself from important Supreme Court cases related to January 6, the left and the media have moved on to try to not-so cleverly get Justice Samuel Alito to recuse himself based on a photo of an upside-down flag outside his home that was said to show support for the rioters. On Saturday’s Good Morning America, ABC White House correspondent MaryAlice Parks omitted key details from Alito’s side of the story as she also hyped that even the appearance of bias can undermine the Court’s credibility.
It was ABC’s second day in a row of echoing the smear and co-host Whit Johnson showed the picture and introduced Parks by noting, “This morning Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is under fire. The New York Times obtaining this photo of an American flag flying upside down reportedly at Alito's home in the days just after the January 6th riot. ABC's White House correspondent, MaryAlice Parks, joins us now from Washington with more. MaryAlice, good morning.”
For Parks, “The central question here is whether Justice Alito or someone from his family was trying to show solidarity with those who wanted to subvert the 2020 Election results or even with those who stormed the Capitol on January 6th. Now, according to the New York Times, the American flag flew upside down for days at the Alito House right before President Biden's inauguration. Flags, of course, are never supposed to be flown upside down unless to signal great distress, but former President Trump’s supporters had adopted it as a symbol, some even carrying it as they stormed the Capitol.”
If it is really “the central question,” then some discussion on Alito’s record on the 2020 Election would be appropriate, but Parks wasn’t interested in that. Instead, she recalled, “Justice Alito did not reply to our request but blamed his wife in a comment to the Times and has downplayed the incident. Still, the leading Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Dick Durbin, is calling for Alito to recuse himself from all January 6th-related cases. The Court is expected to rule on two cases related to the attack on the Capitol in the next few weeks, including one about whether Trump has immunity for his actions.”
Parks completely misrepresented and omitted key details of Alito’s side of the story. He was not blaming his wife, he was simply explaining she was on the receiving end of abuse from nasty neighbors who blamed her for January 6 and used vile language, including the C-word.
For all the media complaints about Harrison Butker, the media sure seems to be upset that Alito and Thomas don’t sufficiently control their wives.
Still, Parks played the “people are saying” card, “Now, since the news broke, several legal scholars have been questioning whether Alito showed bias here and damaged his credibility. Of course, even the perception of a conflict of interest could be problematic and undermine faith in the courts. Janai.”
Co-host Janai Norman agreed, “And that is one of the concerns, MaryAlice. Thank you.”
What is the ideological bent of these “legal scholars?” Could it be that they have political axes to grind? Could they be ginning up controversy to pressure the Court to rule a certain way or delegitimize it if it rules another? Again, Parks wasn’t interested.
Here is a transcript for the May 18 show:
ABC Good Morning America
5/18/2024
7:09 AM ET
WHIT JOHNSON: This morning Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is under fire. The New York Times obtaining this photo of an American flag flying upside down reportedly at Alito's home in the days just after the January 6th riot. ABC's White House correspondent, MaryAlice Parks, joins us now from Washington with more. MaryAlice, good morning.
MARYALICE PARKS: Yeah, Whit, good morning. The central question here is whether Justice Alito or someone from his family was trying to show solidarity with those who wanted to subvert the 2020 Election results or even with those who stormed the Capitol on January 6th. Now, according to the New York Times, the American flag flew upside down for days at the Alito house right before President Biden's inauguration. Flags, of course, are never supposed to be flown upside down unless to signal great distress, but former President Trump’s supporters had adopted it as a symbol, some even carrying it as they stormed the Capitol.
Now, Justice Alito did not reply to our request but blamed his wife in a comment to the Times and has downplayed the incident. Still, the leading Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Dick Durbin, is calling for Alito to recuse himself from all January 6th-related cases. The Court is expected to rule on two cases related to the attack on the Capitol in the next few weeks, including one about whether Trump has immunity for his actions.
Now, since the news broke, several legal scholars have been questioning whether Alito showed bias here and damaged his credibility. Of course, even the perception of a conflict of interest could be problematic and undermine faith in the courts. Janai.
JANAI NORMAN: And that is one of the concerns, MaryAlice. Thank you.
