Unvaccinated Palin Gets COVID, Derailing Her NYT Defamation Suit Trial

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 14: Former Governor Sarah Palin speaks during the "Climate Hustle" panel discussion at the Rayburn House Office Building on April 14, 2016 in Washington, DC. (Kris Connor/Getty Images)
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

What was supposed to be the first day of the trial in ex-GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s defamation case against the New York Times on Monday has been pushed back to next week after she tested positive for COVID-19, the judge in the case announced on Monday.

Manhattan federal court Judge Jed Rakoff, who is overseeing the fight in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, told the courtroom that Palin had tested positive on Sunday night.

“She is, of course, unvaccinated,” he remarked.

Rakoff rescheduled the trial to February 3.

During a conference hosted by right-wing group Turning Point in December, Palin declared that she would never get the COVID-19 vaccine or comply with vaccine mandates.

“It’ll be over my dead body that I’ll have to get a shot,” she said. “I won’t do it.”

Palin also urged the audience to “rise up” and say “nooooo, enough is enough” to the mandates.

The former Alaska governor is suing the Times over a 2017 editorial that connected the shooting of Rep. Gabby Giffords (AZ) to an electoral district map distributed by Palin’s super PAC. The editorial, written in wake of the Republican congressional baseball practice shooting that injured Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), argued that Giffords’ shooting and the “link to political incitement” was “clear.”

The Times issued a correction the day after the column was published, stating that “no such link was established.”

Palin filed her lawsuit later that June.

Notable Replies

  1. “She is, of course, unvaccinated,” he remarked.

    Burn!

  2. Avatar for theod theod says:

    Oh, what a tragedy it would be if MAGAmerikkka were to get another COVID Martyr…er, I mean another pneumonia victim.

  3. Nailin’ Palin. But not in the manner expected.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

278 more replies

Participants

Avatar for ajm Avatar for mattinpa Avatar for chelsea530 Avatar for arrendis Avatar for lastroth Avatar for harry_r_sohl Avatar for alyoshakaramazov1 Avatar for serendipitoussomnambulist Avatar for darrtown Avatar for benthere Avatar for tena Avatar for tsp Avatar for castor_troy Avatar for dannydorko Avatar for katscherger Avatar for maximus Avatar for jwbuho Avatar for occamscoin Avatar for txlawyer Avatar for rascal_crone Avatar for dicktater Avatar for randome Avatar for kovie Avatar for ClutchCargo

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: