MSNBC host Rachel Maddow lashed out at Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, accusing him of preventing his colleague, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, from “being able to come to work.”
Maddow was responding to reports indicating that Sotomayor has refused to attend the high court’s oral arguments in person because Gorsuch refuses to wear a mask, and she suggested that he might “revel” in the knowledge that everyone now knew that he was the reason she felt unable to come to work.
“It’s folly to try to get inside anyone else’s head, I know, but I just can’t shake this,” Maddow tweeted Tuesday, adding, “Does Justice Gorsuch revel in everyone now knowing that he’s keeping her from being able to come to work? Or is he embarrassed? I mean, how do you live with yourself?”
It’s folly to try to get inside anyone else’s head, I know, but I just can’t shake this.
Does Justice Gorsuch revel in everyone now knowing that he’s keeping her from being able to come to work? Or is he embarrassed? I mean, how do you live with yourself?https://t.co/O8AfWHafPP
— Rachel Maddow MSNBC (@maddow) January 18, 2022
Writer Marie Myung-Ok Lee responded, saying, “I don’t understand why Gorsuch isn’t the one being exiled for being a d***.”
And others quickly agreed that Gorsuch should have to be the one working remotely if he was not going to wear a mask during oral arguments.
The Daily Caller’s editor-in-chief Geoffrey Ingersoll offered a different perspective, noting that all of the Justices were vaccinated and were constantly being tested.
“Maddow [quoting] npr’s garbage story is like a multilevel marketing scheme for political hacks,” he said. “They’re all vaxxed and tested every day. Nothing is stopping her from going to work but herself. The shrieking from cultish covid enthusiasts puts westboro baptist to shame, my god.”
Maddow qting npr’s garbage story is like a multilevel marketing scheme for political hacks.
They’re all vaxxed and tested every day. Nothing is stopping her from going to work but herself.
The shrieking from cultish covid enthusiasts puts westboro baptist to shame, my god. https://t.co/Am2TY8XQpJ
— Geoffrey Ingersoll (@GPIngersoll) January 18, 2022
Sotomayor is diabetic and at higher risk of complications from a COVID-19 infection — and according to NPR’s report, she opted to wear a mask even when none of the other justices felt the need to do so. As the Omicron variant spread, however, Sotomayor said that she was no longer comfortable working where others remained unmasked.
As The Daily Wire reported:
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor is refusing to take part in person when the Supreme Court takes the bench for one reason: Justice Neil Gorsuch steadfastly refuses to wear a mask, according to a report.
Sotomayor, who has diabetes and has been the only justice to wear a mask since the Court resumed activity in fall of 2021, will only join the other justices through a microphone setup in her chambers. After Chief Justice John Roberts requested that all the justices wear a mask because of the Omicron surge, Gorsuch, who sits next to Sotomayor on the bench, refused, according to NPR.
“Last week, Gorsuch was the only justice in the courtroom not to wear a mask during oral arguments, while Sotomayor and Justice Stephen Breyer both appeared remotely. Breyer, at 83 the oldest member of the court, stayed out of the courtroom after a spokesperson said he received the results of a Covid test that was later determined to be a false positive,” CNBC reported.