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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office slammed one of the nation’s top political news websites following a major blunder resulting in an incorrect story that liberal Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor dined with top Democrats at a swanky D.C. eatery following the court’s hearing of arguments over President Joe Biden’s controversial vaccine mandates.
In a mad rush to break a story, Politico Playbook acted on a hot tip that Sotomayor was spotted breaking bread with Schumer and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., along with other Democrats at Le Diplomate which would have been a major scoop considering that the “wise Latina” had not shown up in person for the oral arguments but appeared remotely, possibly over concerns about COVID.
After publishing the image, the outlet was forced to issue a correction that the woman at the table wasn’t Sotomayor but Schumer’s wife Iris, leaving Politico management and editors with egg dripping off of their faces over a sloppy miscue that further illustrates why so many Americans distrust the establishment media.
Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin was at a fancy dinner at the famed Le Diplomate in DC. We misidentified Iris Schumer, the majority leader’s wife, as Sonia Sotomayor when this first published. But RT'ing here so you can see the scene — read news in Playbook: https://t.co/iYFbyU40SM pic.twitter.com/L2Uy7vEcU1
— Shia Kapos (@ShiaKapos) January 8, 2022
Schumer’s top spokesperson took to Twitter to scold Politico for the faulty reporting.
“If anyone from playbook or Politico had reached out before they printed it, I could have saved them the embarrassment,” wrote communications director Justin Goodman.
If anyone from playbook or Politico had reached out before they printed it, I could have saved them the embarrassment. #reporting https://t.co/sLSw2jouss
— Justin Goodman (@JustinPGoodman) January 8, 2022
Politico was forced to retract and update, writing that “CORRECTION: This morning’s Playbook had a photo of a Friday dinner at Le Diplomate, and misidentified Iris Schumer, the majority leader’s wife, as Sonia Sotomayor,” according to Twitter. “Our tipster got it wrong, but we should have double checked. We deeply regret the error.”
However, the Politico employee who wrote the initial correction made matters worse by getting Schumer’s wife’s name wrong, a mistake that astute Twitter users quickly pointed out.
Chuck Schumer’s wife’s name is Iris Weinshall, not Iris Schumer. Apart from that, excellent correction 👌🤣
— Raheem J. Kassam (@RaheemKassam) January 8, 2022
Hey, Politico “reporter”. Her name is Iris Weinshall.
— Blue Georgia (@BlueATLGeorgia) January 9, 2022
Playbook has since issued yet another correction correctly identifying the Majority Leader’s spouse, “Today’s Playbook misidentified Iris Weinshall, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s wife, as Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. We failed to verify the information as our standards require, and deeply regret the error.”
For the record, this replaces a deleted correction that incorrectly listed Weinshall's last name. We regret the errors.
— POLITICO Playbook (@playbookdc) January 8, 2022
Politico’s bungled scoop brought a predictable reaction from Twitter users.
Politico says they misidentified, now saying it was Schumer’s wife, not Sotomayor. I love that WaPo’s Ruth Marcus immediately jumped to defend the pic tho when she thought it showed Sotomayor dodging working at SCOTUS in-person & then hanging out with Schumer at LeDip that night. https://t.co/NUKMdr5hEL
— Jerry Christmas 🎄🎅🏽 (@JerryDunleavy) January 8, 2022
So – apparently Politico has issued a correction. It was Chuck Schumer's wife and not Sotomayor 😂
— Justin Hart (@justin_hart) January 8, 2022
Don't worry, Libs.
Politico will make sure to run at least 5 false stories on Republicans this week to make up for the Sotomayor travesty.
It will be ok, promise.
— Kevin D. Jones (@Kevin_D_Jones) January 8, 2022
Politico’s 12 readers had no idea the correction was made
— Trevor’s Enjoying The Bird App, Unlike TFG and MTG (@ObamaClintonDem) January 8, 2022
Lol, what else has Politico failed to fact check? It appears that the entire staff of Politico didn’t pass Journalism 101.
— Alexia V (@Lhexx2011) January 8, 2022
Probably not. It's Politico
— Hugh Goggins 🧣 (@guiltypanacea) January 8, 2022
This is what happens when you stray from reporting news and try your hand at gossip columnist.
— Wilda Uhrig (@wildav52) January 8, 2022
And you blamed your ‘tipster’ in the last story…not your crackerjack editorial staff.
— David Dennison (@DavidDe17354109) January 8, 2022
Sotomayor made major waves during Friday’s SCOTUS arguments for her either being badly misinformed or just peddling outlandish lies about children on ventilators, a fib so enormous that even fearmongering CDC Director Rochelle Walensky has to admit that it was false.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky refutes Justice Sotomayor's statement that "over 100,000 children" are hospitalized due to COVID, with "many on ventilators":
ANCHOR: "The number's not 100,000. It's roughly 3,500 in hospitals now?"
WALENSKY: "Yes."
— Election Wizard 🇺🇸 (@ElectionWiz) January 9, 2022
Politico’s reputation likely won’t take much of a hit with Kool-Aid drinking Democrats and COVID cultists but discerning news consumers will have good reason to view any of its reporting with skepticism going forward.
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