A former Washington Post reporter claimed he had not heard or had any knowledge of the image being associated with the so-called” Cease the Steal” movement and that he had been writing a narrative about the upside-down U.S. symbol hanging outside Justice Samuel Alito’s house in 2021.
Speaking to Post journalist Erik Wemple, retired WaPo Supreme Court writer Robert Barnes , said , he got an unnamed idea about the symbol, saw the flag flying at the Alitos ‘ home on Jan. 6, 2021, and spoke with the Alitos about why it was back down. He explained why he finally chose not to review on it.
According to Barnes,” we determined that it was n’t the justice that turned the flag upside down and that it was n’t something that Mrs. Alito did to protest the election or something else,” Barnes said in a statement to Wemple. Martha- Ann Alito’s actions when I saw her and what other people in the neighborhood had told me, Barnes said he made the decision.
” I was never conscious that an benefit- down flag was a symbol of’ Quit the Steal,'” Barnes likewise told Wemple. It never occurred in our conversations that this was a representation of” Stop the Steal.”
The New York Times made the decision that the account was front-page news three centuries after Barnes was given the idea about the upside-down flag at the Alitos ‘ Virginia home, and published several critical articles about the Alitos and Justice Alito’s moral character.
Wemple acknowledged that the origins and connections of the flag are not as wicked as the media has suggested they may be in illumination of the media blitz against the Alitos, which started mid-May and lasted for weeks.
Wemple , noted , in his ops- ed that,” This special sign originated as a signal of distress on the great seas and these weeks serves as a sign of figurative stress by political actors, including by critics of President Barack Obama in the Tea Party movement” . ,
He also , said,” There were at least a , couple , of , posts , from folks who had used the sign to present distress over the leadership of Trump”, emphasizing the fact that the upside- down flag is not exclusive to Jan. 6, nor does it only represent therefore- called “insurrectionists”.
Wemple took the opportunity to criticize his own publication for its “inaction” despite Barnes ‘ correct explanation of why he passed on the story and his own instances of the flag being used in contexts unrelated to Jan. 6.
” Those caveats, though noteworthy, do n’t rule out a harsh judgment of The Post’s inaction”, Wemple wrote. The Alitos were not entitled to any deference.
Wemple continued to lament that the Post had to “play second fiddle” with the NYT because the story had been passed on.
An” Appeal to Heaven” flag, which was originally designed by George Washington’s secretary and flown by six ships Washington commissioned during the American Revolution, was the second flag that sparked a left-wing outcry against the Alitos, but a deeper investigation into its history revealed that the leftist media had once more attempted to smear Alito with a fabricated controversy.
In an obvious attempt to influence the bench’s decisions, as significant cases involving Jan. 6 and former president Donald Trump were on the docket, many outlets went one step further and demanded Alito’s recusal.
Kamden Mulder is a summer intern at The Federalist. She is a senior at Hillsdale College majoring in American Studies and Journalism.
