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Oops: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Sounds Like She Calls Lindsey Graham One of the 'Women of the Senate'

April 11, 2017

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Monday appeared to refer to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) as one of the "women of the Senate" while delivering remarks in Washington after being honored with Allegheny College's Prize for Civility in Public Life, but in actuality it sounded that way because she speedily read off a list of honorees from Allegheny College that once included the "Women of the Senate."

Ginsburg, who was being honored with the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, was reflecting on her 1993 confirmation hearing, which she said was "civil."

"I thought back to the 1993 confirmation of my nomination to the court," Ginsburg said. "The hearing was altogether civil. The vote was 96 to 3. For Justice Scalia, the vote was unanimous."

The Supreme Court justice then noted other sets of Allegheny's past honorees and called for Congress to come together in "restoring harmonious work ways."

"Let's hope members of Congress, the members that Allegheny College has already honored–Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. John McCain, [and] the Women of the Senate, Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Lindsey Graham–let's hope that they, and others of good will, will lead in restoring harmonious work ways," Ginsburg said.

It seemed like Ginsburg was calling Graham one of the chamber's women, but in actuality the "Women of the Senate" were a specific honoree in 2014.

Correction (1:56 p.m.): This article earlier stated that Ginsburg referred to Graham as one of the "women of the Senate," but the headline and article have been updated to show that her quick reading of the script only made it sound that way.