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In her new memoir, Katie Couric has revealed that she edited out United States Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s controversial comments criticizing people who kneel during the national anthem.
Couric wrote in the memoir Going There that she wanted to protect Ginsburg, then 83, who was “elderly and probably didn’t fully understand the question.”
Couric edited out part of the 2016 interview in which Ginsburg said football players who kneel during the anthem are showing “contempt for a government that has made it possible for their parents and grandparents to live a decent life … which they probably could not have lived in the places they came from. … As they became older, they realize that this was youthful folly. And that’s why education is important.”
According to a new report in The Daily Mail, Couric writes in her memoir that she edited out the comments because they were “unworthy of a crusader for equality” like Ginsburg.
In the portion of the interview that did air, Ginsburg said: “I think it is really dumb of them. Would I arrest them for doing it? No. I think it is dumb and disrespectful. I would have the same answer if you asked me about flag burning. I think it is a terrible thing to do. But I wouldn’t lock a person up for doing it. I would point out how ridiculous it seems to me to do such an act. But it is dangerous to arrest people for conduct that doesn’t jeopardize the health or well-being of other people. It is a symbol they are engaged in.”
After a follow-up question, Ginsburg said in the segment that aired: “If they want to be stupid, there is no law that should prevent that. If they want to be arrogant, there is no law that prevents them from that. What I would do is strongly take issue with the point of view that they are expressing when they do that.”
A day after the interview, the Supreme Court’s public affairs office said Ginsburg had “misspoken” and asked Couric to remove her comments on kneeling from the story, the memoir revealed.
Ginsburg released a statement after the interview. She said her comments were “inappropriately dismissive and harsh,” and she commented even though she was “barely aware of the incident or its purpose.”
“I should have declined to respond,” Ginsburg said.
