Conservatives ripped reports from Newsweek and Reuters that claimed potential Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett was a member of the group that inspired The Handmaid’s Tale.
Reuters said the People of Praise religious group was an “unusual mix of Roman Catholic and Pentecostal traditions.” Newsweek claimed without evidence that the group inspired Margaret Atwood to write The Handmaid’s Tale.
Newsweek issued an editor’s note addressing the claim.
It stated: “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.”
Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse referred to the “ugly smears” as “QAnon level of stupidity,” arguing that “People of Praise is basically a Bible study. And just like billions of Christians around the world, Judge Barrett reads the Bible, prays, and tries to serve her community. Senators should condemn this wacky McCarthyism.”
Conservative pundits ripped the outlets for their reporting on people of faith. Media critic Stephen Miller pointed out that the correction invalidates the premise of the article.
Turns out it didn’t https://t.co/S2tsOiYkBK pic.twitter.com/1Vq9WmKckD
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) September 22, 2020
Matt Whitlock, a National Republican Senatorial Committee adviser, said the correction “refutes the ENTIRE article” and asked why Newsweek hadn’t “retracted the entire thing?”
Your correction refutes the ENTIRE article how have you not just retracted the entire thing? pic.twitter.com/reD2aE5vsL
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) September 22, 2020
Radio host Hugh Hewitt said the smears against Barrett were an example of “deep and enduring” anti-Catholic bias from Democrats and the “Blue Bubble media.”
“That ‘dogma lives deeply within’ the Democrats, and every Catholic in America should know it,” he tweeted. Hewitt’s dogma comment was a reference to Barrett’s confirmation hearings to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in 2017, when California Sen. Dianne Feinstein said, “The conclusion one draws is that the dogma lives loudly within you. And that’s of concern.”
Even before @realDonaldTrump announces his #SCOTUS nominee, Democrats and Blue Bubble media have begun to voice their anti-Catholic bias. That anti-Catholic bias is deep and enduring. That “dogma lives deeply within” the Democrats, and every Catholic in America should know it.
— Hugh Hewitt (@hughhewitt) September 23, 2020
The Daily Caller’s Peter Hasson called the allegations against People of Praise an “absurd smear.”
My high school was run by People of Praise so I can tell you first-hand that this is an absurd smear https://t.co/Ls0nN6Y3YB
— Peter J. Hasson (@peterjhasson) September 22, 2020
People of Praise members send their high school age kids to high-poverty areas like Evansville, Indiana every summer to serve the poorest of the poor. That’s who they are.
Watching fellow journalists launder “Handmaid’s Tale!!!11!!” takes is so gross it’s almost hard to believe
— Peter J. Hasson (@peterjhasson) September 22, 2020
Tom Fitton, the president of Judicial Watch, argued Reuters “smears Catholic Christian beliefs of Judge Amy Coney Barrett. The Left will attempt to destroy whoever President @realDonaldTrump picks and they will have help from a craven media.”
.@Reuters, on behalf of the Left, smears Catholic Christian beliefs of Judge Amy Coney Barrett. The Left will attempt to destroy whoever President @realDonaldTrump picks and they will have help from a craven media. https://t.co/H5qjNYHlMc
— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) September 22, 2020
President Trump said he will announce his nominee for the Supreme Court on Saturday evening. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has vowed that the Senate will vote on the nomination before the election.
