Feinstein Wasn't Caught Bullying Murkowski Over Supreme Court Vote

25th September 2020

Feinstein Wasn't Caught Bullying Murkowski Over Supreme Court Vote

The photo that allegedly shows bullying was actually taken in 2018 (Getty Images).

The Claim

A clandestine photograph displays Senator Dianne Feinstein of California bullying Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska in the halls of Congress recently over the potential upcoming Senate vote on a new Supreme Court Justice.

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Emerging story

In mid-September 2020, a photo began to surface on social media depicting Senator Dianne Feinstein seemingly cornering Senator Lisa Murkowski, with her outstretched arm blocking her in a doorway, somewhere in the halls of the U.S. Capitol. Most of the posts describe the scene as an instance of aggression or bullying and link it to the impending Senatorial showdown over the next Supreme Court Justice seat recently vacated by the late Ruth Bader-Ginsburg.

Misbar’s Analysis

Our investigation has revealed that the claim--that this photograph depicts Senator Feinstein bullying Senator Murkowski over her upcoming vote--is completely false. Misbar has discovered that this image is actually a re-surfacing of an older photo from 2018 in which the two Senators were engaged in debate over the ongoing Brett Kavaunaugh confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice. The photo was taken by CBS Producer Bo Erikson, who simply remarked that they were “huddling” but could not hear their conversation.

The re-surfacing is likely as a result of a mention on Rush Limbaugh’s radio show and subsequent article from Jeffrey Lord vaguely linking the photo to recent discussions that must be pertaining to the current Supreme Court vacancy. While the latter report doesn’t explicitly link the two, it is clearly insinuating this photo represents a recent occurrence (at some point since Ginsburg passed away). It is this report that is also most frequently linked to in the majority of posts on social media that make reference to the current vacancy.

Even the notion that this depicted an instance of bullying in 2018 is completely fabricated, making any analogy between now and then equally false. According to a report by The Hill at the time of the photo, the two were seen hugging in the very same moment and only briefly whispering to each other before departing. Despite the heated nature of the hearings both were involved in, the two Senators have maintained a very good relationship as friends and have both denied any bullying took place during the encounter.