US' Katie Couric Reveals She Hid RBG’s Negative Kaepernick Remarks to Preserve Justice's Image

In Katie Couric’s new memoir “Going There,” she reveals that she removed negative remarks from a 2016 interview for Yahoo! News made by Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg over athlete-turned-activist Colin Kaepernick’s kneeling before the national anthem at professional football games.

In the memoir, Couric admits that she let her personal political views cloud her reporting, and that she wanted to preserve Ginsburg’s image as a social justice crusader. While the veteran journalist opted to remove Ginsburg’s most problematic statements, she did keep some of the late Supreme Court justice’s opinions on Kaepernick in the interview.

What made it into the 2016 Yahoo! News interview was a statement Ginsburg made when asked about how she felt about Colin Kaepernick kneeling before the national anthem. “I think it’s dumb and disrespectful.... 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,” she said.

While Ginsburg’s statements drew the ire of those who supported Kaepernick, what Couric didn’t want the public to hear was much more troubling.

Katie Couric participates in the 'America Inside Out with Katie Kouric' panel during the National Geographic Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour on Saturday, Jan. 13, 2018, in Pasadena, Calif.

© AP Photo / Willy Sanjuan/Invision

Couric admits to editing out another statement Ginsburg made about players who kneeled during the national anthem to protest police brutality. Ginsburg said that they showed a “contempt for a government that has made it possible for their parents and grandparents to live a decent life.”

Couric said she was motivated to protect Ginsburg because of the admiration she had for the late Supreme Court justice.

The former "Today" show journalist wrote in her memoir that the comments were “unworthy of a crusader for equality,” and that she even considered removing the Justice’s remarks calling Kaepernick “dumb and disrespectful.”

Ginsburg’s legacy as a champion for equal rights has long been touted. While her stance on women’s and reproductive rights have always earned high marks from activists, her stance on racial and criminal justice has been more checkered.

Couric’s decision to shield Ginsburg’s legacy was motivated by admiration and politics. However her decision to come clean has raised questions about her reporting, as well as tarnishing their legacies.