This New SCOTUS Photo With Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Brett Kavanaugh Is Going Viral

Friday is portrait day at the Supreme Court of the United States, and you know what that means—a spot of shade-throwing by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, or so it seems.

Elder, Event,
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Friday is portrait day at the Supreme Court of the United States, and you know what that means—a spot of shade-throwing by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, or so it seems. The November 30 portrait is the first that includes now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who replaced Anthony Kennedy after a bitter tug-of-war about whether the multiple sexual harassment claims against him (which Kavanaugh denies) should render him ineligible. (Meanwhile, Christine Blasey Ford has only recently been able to return home due to death threats, but I digress.)

In several of the portraits, as well as in a screenshot taken by C-SPAN and screenshotted by reporter Lauren Tara LaCapra on Twitter, RBG appears to shrink away from the newest justice, who beams from the top-right of the picture. Sure, we have no way of knowing how the feminist icon feels about an accused sexual harasser sitting on the highest court of the land, but RBG's feminist credentials might suggest that she's on the side of the women everywhere who opposed Kavanaugh's nomination. (Also, she didn't look too thrilled during Kavanaugh's confirmation, either.)

Here's the C-SPAN shot:

And here are the official SCOTUS portraits:

Elder, Event,

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Elder, Event,

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Here's a close-up:

Elder, Event,

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Don't get me wrong—I could certainly be seeing what I want to see here, mostly because RBG is a bona fide women's rights icon. (Meanwhile, Kavanaugh behaved like a spoiled child when asked about assault allegations at his confirmation hearings and got a spot on the bench anyway.) Also, in fairness, RBG has adopted this facial expression in previous SCOTUS shots that did not include Kavanaugh, so there's that.

Event, Team, Elder,

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Elder, Event,

(Image credit: Getty Images)

But many people on Twitter saw what I see, too.

See more

You just keep fighting the good fight, RBG, newly healing broken ribs and all.

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Jenny Hollander
Digital Director

Jenny is the Digital Director at Marie Claire. Originally from London, she moved to New York in 2012 to attend the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and never left. Prior to Marie Claire, she spent five years at Bustle building out its news and politics coverage. She loves, in order: her dog, goldfish crackers, and arguing about why umbrellas are fundamentally useless. Her first novel, EVERYONE WHO CAN FORGIVE ME IS DEAD, will be published by Minotaur Books on February 6, 2024.