Justice Alito criticized Joan Biskupic of CNN for her portrayal of him as a perpetually unhappy and aggrieved figure, based solely on his facial expressions in court without substantive evidence or personal interviews. During an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Alito pointed out that similar critiques are not applied to justices who express strong disagreement during oral arguments, highlighting what he sees as biased reporting targeting those whose views they oppose.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-08,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Recently, Justice Alito sat down with Kyle Peterson of the Wall Street Journal for an extended chat about his new book.
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Alito → sit → book
There is much to commend here, but I'd like to focus in particular about how Justice Alito responded to claims by Joan Biskupic of CNN.
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Alito → be → CNN
Kyle asks:
Well, I don't know how much coverage of the court you read, but you may not be surprised to learn that one light motif is that you are brooding figure.
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you → ask → court
Um here's a a passage from a book by Joan Biskupic of CNN: you wear a heavy cloak of grievance as if perpetually wronged, destined to be misunderstood.
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you → wear → grievance
Biskupic has made similar comments in the past.
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Biskupic → make → past
In December 2025, she published a column titled "Samuel Alito keeps getting his way.
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Alito → publish → way
So why does he seem so unhappy?"
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he → seem → ?
Without any actual evidence beyond staring at the Justice in Court, Biskupic wrote:
Alito's aggravation is regularly on display in the courtroom, too.
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aggravation → star → courtroom
In the courtroom, even the little things can visibly irk Alito.
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things → irk → Alito
He often grimaces and rolls his eyes. . . .
Other justices laughed.
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justices → grimace → eyes
They appear accustomed to his unguarded irritability.
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They → appear → irritability
At the time, I remarked how empty this commentary was:
The media does not fairly cover the conservative Supreme Court justices.
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media → remark → justices
But it is not enough to criticize their written opinions.
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it → criticize → opinions
Rather, pundits feel compelled to opine on how the Justices feel.
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Justices → compel → ?
Case in point is a recent headline from Joan Biskupic, titled "Samuel Alito keeps getting his way.
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Alito → title → way
So why does he seem so unhappy?"
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he → seem → ?
Does Biskupic have any evidence that Alito is unhappy?
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Alito → have → evidence
Did she talk to the Justice or his clerks?
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she → talk → Justice
No, Biskupic apparently no longer has access to that sort of actual information.
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Biskupic → have → information
Instead, she based her conclusions on the Justice's facial expression on the bench.
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she → base → bench
Now, Justice Alito has fired back:
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Alito → fire → ?
I think that's very unfair, and it is part of a process of caricaturing the justices with whom the people who are writing these things disagree.
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who → think → things
Nothing similar is written about some of my colleagues who have issued blistering dissents, blistering dissenting statements from the bench, made what can only be described as very angry comments during oral argument.
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what → write → argument
None of that is written about any of them, but this is written about me.
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this → write → me
Now, what do court watchers, so to speak, see of me?
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watchers → speak → me
They see me at oral argument, and that's basically it.
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that → see → argument
It's supposed to help us make good decisions.
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us → suppose → decisions
And so I challenged the lawyers.
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I → challenge → lawyers
I argued a lot of cases.
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I → argue → cases
I expected to be challenged.
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I → expect → ?
I actually welcomed it because I thought that I could, by responding to the challenges, I could win over a justice or a judge who came into the argument perhaps disposed to rule against me.
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who → welcome → me
But I don't treat oral argument like a moot court.
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I → treat → court
I don't treat it like show.
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I → treat → show
I don't play to the audience.
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I → play → audience
I don't try to get laughs.
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I → try → laughs
I don't try to show how smart I am.
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I → try → ?
It's pretty businesslike, and perhaps that's what they're referring to.
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they → refer → what
You will not see some sort of brooding, grumpy old man.
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You → see → man
He just doesn't waste his time talking to elites who hate him.
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who → waste → him
Biskupic will never criticize the demeanor of Justice Ginsburg on the bench.
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Biskupic → criticize → bench
…and 27 more, not listed.
The Aporia
