The Washington Post targeted the children of Supreme Court Justice nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett on Friday, running a headline that suggests the children spread COVID-19 within their school, though the children have no ties to the three positive tests and have tested negative themselves.
“Two students and a teacher at school attended by Barrett children test positive for coronavirus,” the headline of the piece reads. Co-author Beth Reinhard took it a step further, posting it to Twitter with a caption referring directly to the so-called White House “superspreader” event the Barrett children attended — an event that announced their mother as a SCOTUS nominee.
“Two students and teacher at school attended by SCOTUS nom Amy Coney Barrett’s kids test positive for coronavirus, two weeks after ‘superspreader’ White House event for ACB (Amy Coney Barrett),” Reinhard captioned the Post piece. “Parents are freaked out though no proven link.”
Two students and teacher at school attended by SCOTUS nom Amy Coney Barrett’s kids test positive for coronavirus, two weeks after “superspreader” White House event for ACB. Parents are freaked out though no proven link. W/ @thamburger https://t.co/sniaNd0IgW
— Beth Reinhard (@bethreinhard) October 9, 2020
“A private school in South Bend, Ind., attended by some children of President Trump’s nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, Amy Coney Barrett, notified parents late Thursday that two students and a teacher had tested positive for the novel coronavirus,” wrote co-authors Reinhard and Tom Hamburger.
However, in the next paragraph, the Post authors admit there is “no evidence linking the school infections to the White House event” (emphasis added):
The emails from the Trinity School principal came less than two weeks after the Barrett family was honored at a White House event attended by several people who subsequently tested positive for the virus, including President Trump. The principal’s announcement alarmed some school families, though there is no evidence linking the school infections to the White House event.
They also noted that the children have tested negative for the virus, have no symptoms, and stayed home from school following the president’s positive COVID-19 test:
A White House official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive health matters said Barrett’s children have tested negative, never showed symptoms and were kept out of school after revelations that some who attended the White House ceremonies had tested positive. The official did not specify how long the children stayed home but said the school approved their return to the classroom.
White House spokesman Judd Deere blasted the Post, reportedly telling Reinhard: “The Barrett children should be off-limits. Period.”
White House spokesman Judd Deere took issue with this article, saying, “The Barrett children should be off limits. Period.” https://t.co/N6ScUO2z7z
— Beth Reinhard (@bethreinhard) October 10, 2020
Folks online agreed.
“That’s not controversial if you have a soul, you absolute ghoul,” said attorney and popular Twitter account @beyondreasdoubt.
That’s not controversial if you have a soul, you absolute ghoul.
— LB (@beyondreasdoubt) October 10, 2020
Matt Whitlock asked, “Why are you covering the Barrett kids’ school?! You report that there’s no connection to the WH event, what’s the purpose of this story?”
Of course he did it makes no sense. Why are you covering the Barrett kids’ school?! You report that there’s no connection to the WH event, what’s the purpose of this story?
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) October 10, 2020
“The Washington Post, which launched and ran the Democrats’ anti-Kavanaugh smear campaign, has this week run multiple articles attacking Amy Coney Barrett’s religion and, now, her children,” commented The Federalist’s Mollie Hemingway.
The Washington Post, which launched and ran the Democrats’ anti-Kavanaugh smear campaign, has this week run multiple articles attacking Amy Coney Barrett’s religion and, now, her children. https://t.co/Hna1FdmOLu
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) October 10, 2020
“Why on earth would you run this when, AS THE STORY MAKES CLEAR, there is absolutely zero evidence these infections are related to Coney Barrett’s children—who have tested negative?” another Twitter user mused.
“No but seriously why did WaPo publish this,” she continued. “‘Ok here are 2 events & we have no evidence they’re related—and there’s a lot of evidence they’re not—but we’re going to run it anyway even though lots of ppl will assume they’re linked & we don’t care that minor children are involved.'”
No but seriously why did WaPo publish this. “Ok here are 2 events & we have no evidence they’re related—and there’s a lot of evidence they’re not—but we’re going to run it anyway even though lots of ppl will assume they’re linked & we don’t care that minor children are involved.”
— Alexandra R. (@Alexa_MRo) October 10, 2020