Fox & Friends briefly aired a graphic Monday morning which erroneously suggested Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is dead.
Upon returning from a commercial break, a graphic of the 85-year-old justice briefly came onscreen with the dates “1933-2019,” before a teaser of co-host Ainsley Earhardt’s upcoming interview about college culture appeared.
Fox News just slipped in Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s obituary segment opener pic.twitter.com/PfN6ICltYb
— Chip Douglas (@AreaMan_) January 21, 2019
“We need to apologize … A technical error in the control room triggered a graphic of RBG with a date on it,” co-host Steve Doocy said later in the show. “We don’t want to make it seem anything other than that was a mistake. That was an accident.”
“We apologize, big mistake,” added Earhardt.
Ginsburg, the liberal face of the Court, is recovering from a December 21 procedure to remove malignant nodules from her left lung. The cancerous growths were discovered while receiving treatment for a November 7 fall in her chambers. Ginsburg missed the Court’s oral arguments for three consecutive days earlier this month, participating in cases using transcripts — a first in the justice’s 25-year tenure on the bench. Ginsburg missed oral arguments last week as well.
Ginsburg has also pulled out of two upcoming speaking engagements in recent days. She was slated to appear January 29 at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. A February 6 event featuring Ginsburg and private equity titan and philanthropist David Rubenstein in New York City was also canceled.
Appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1993, Ginsburg rebuked calls to leave the bench during President Barack Obama’s second term, when a confirmation process appeared less volatile due to a Democrat-controlled Senate.
Last year, the justice signaled she intends to stay on the Court by hiring law clerks for at least two additional terms. In a December interview published by CNN, Ginsburg affirmed her commitment to remain a justice “as long as I can do it full steam.”
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