PrintTrump keeps winning unanimously
On March 2, 2024, former (and, hopefully, future) President Trump won all delegates on offer in the Michigan GOP convention, and the caucuses in Idaho and Missouri. Today, he won a unanimous decision from SCOTUS in the Colorado ballot disqualification case.
Super Tuesday primary results are pending, but, for now, he keeps winning unanimously.
Unanimous is a powerful word, considering the political polarization on SCOTUS. Historically, a minority of SCOTUS decisions are unanimous.
Given its rarity, one would reasonably expect “unanimous” to be included in applicable story headlines. However, some media outlets managed to omit this crucial tidbit from the bold print in their coverage of the SCOTUS decision on March 4, 2024.
What follows is a quick, three-part breakdown (effective 8:35 AM PST, 3/4/2024), indicating the placement of the compelling word in articles about the Colorado ballot decision.
- Articles from the major MSM propaganda machines that included the word “unanimous” in the main text, but not in the article heading or subheadings:
CBS: Supreme Court says Trump can appear on 2024 ballot, overturning Colorado ruling (Updated March 4, 2024 / 10:42 AM EST / CBS News)
NBC: Supreme Court rules states can't kick Trump off the ballot (Updated March 4, 2024, 7:36 AM PST)
Reuters: Trump wins Colorado ballot disqualification case at US Supreme Court (Updated March 4, 2024 7:45 AM PST)
AP: Supreme Court restores Trump to ballot, rejecting state attempts to ban him over Capitol attack (Updated 7:41 AM PST, March 4, 2024)
Washington Post: Supreme Court keeps Trump on ballot, rejects Colorado voter challenge (Updated 10:25 a.m. EST)
Instead of highlighting the unanimity of the SCOTUS vote, the headlines from the above outlets included dispirited descriptions like (but not verbatim): “Trump can appear on ballot,” “Can’t keep Trump off ballot,” “Supreme Court keeps Trump on ballot.”
After reluctantly conceding the unanimity of the justices, NBC/MSNBC were quick to provide details about consenting opinions from the three liberal justices. They expressed concerns about the far-reaching extent of the opinion:
“Although the bottom-line vote was unanimous, there were some divisions on the court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, as to how the case was resolved. The three liberal justices -- Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson -- complained in a jointly written concurring opinion that the court had decided more than it needed to by laying out how section 3 could be enforced by Congress.”
- Here’s a selection of articles that included the word “unanimous” in heading and main text:
Fox: Supreme Court rules unanimously for Trump in Colorado ballot disqualification dispute
CNN: Supreme Court unanimously rules to keep Trump on Colorado ballot
- Here’s an article that includes the word “unanimous” in subheading and main text:
ABC: Supreme Court rules Trump can stay on Colorado ballot in historic 14th Amendment case (March 4, 2024, 8:19 AM, EST)
Unanimity is rare in any multi-person endeavor, let alone on the highest court. Trump just described today’s SCOTUS decision as a “big win for America.” That deserves bold-font headline emphasis.
