Satire About Ginni Thomas' Venmo Requests For Coup Buses Is Interpreted As Truth, Until Debunked

A satirical article in The New Yorker spoofing the text messages between former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and conservative activist Ginni Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, has been interpreted by many on Twitter as real news and circulated widely.

Real texts between Thomas and Meadows, shared with the press and January 6th committee, show the Supreme Court spouse allegedly helping the Trump administration push false claims that the election was stolen and reporting back to Meadows about her efforts to pressure legislators in Arizona and Pennsylvania.

Many are disturbed by how involved Thomas purportedly was in the effort to overturn the election because her husband is a Supreme Court justice, and back in March, he was the only member of the Court to vote in favor of letting Donald Trump withhold January 6th documents from the committee.

Here’s a reminder that Clarence Thomas was the only justice to dissent when the Supreme Court rejected Trump’s bid to withhold White House documents concerning January 6.

— MeidasTouch.com (@MeidasTouch) June 16, 2022

The satirical texts feature Thomas and Meadows figuring out financing for “coup buses,” with Thomas asking Meadows to Venmo money to an account linked to her husband’s work email. Missing the satire, a number of posters thought the texts were real.

Um, "coup buses," paid via venmo, Ginni?
You can't make this stuff up. https://t.co/YtOHGboSs7

— SJinn (@scarletjinn) June 17, 2022

The most prominent post saying the texts were real was liked over 24,000 times and falsely attributes the story to CNN. The account, LilSoldierMa (@Nelva31501410) appears to be a sincere left-wing political poster that joined the platform in November 2020 and has 322 followers.

CNN leaked some more texts. Ginni Thomas texted Mark Meadows

Ginni: Also Venmo request me for the coup buses BTW

Mark: What’s the email?

Ginni: justiceclarencethomas@supremecourt.private

You cannot tell me Clarence didn’t know what was going on!!

— LilSoldierMa (@Nelva31501410) June 16, 2022

In the replies to the post, many took the time to debunk the false claims and let people know it was satire. Several different posters did this by sharing a screenshot of the original New Yorker article.

Hey folks, this is satire. Do you see where it says "MORE HUMOR" up there at the top? Ginni Thomas did not actually text Mark Meadows "Venmo request me for the coup buses," and then give him her husband's SCOTUS email address. pic.twitter.com/gqMBo6kzIt

— Barney 🇺🇦 (@barney1776) June 17, 2022

I agree. We are drowning in misinformation because too many people, on both sides of the aisle, don’t fact check, they just repeat whatever they read as truth.

— Tina Conway 🇺🇸 (@tinatc26) June 17, 2022

I’m unfollowing anyone who’s retweeted or continued to spread the coup bus story if their replies are filled with their followers telling them it’s fake and they leave that shit up. You’re no better than the GQP when it comes to spreading lies. We have plenty of facts to go on.

— TheGirlWithNoName (@CrowProfane) June 17, 2022

Satire https://t.co/lyxsCthH3y

— 🌊 KAP 🌊 (@picbykap) June 17, 2022

Alongside these, others posted memes mocking the Thomases.

pic.twitter.com/P3JjPX7keT

— liberty 4 all (@Peaceandjvstice) June 17, 2022

The original New Yorker post, which was shared yesterday morning, only received around 300 likes.

In @newyorkerhumor, Will Stephen chronicles some of Mark Meadows’s texts with Sean Hannity, Ted Cruz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. https://t.co/G1EEfTbLIy

— The New Yorker (@NewYorker) June 16, 2022

The House January 6th Committee has sent a letter to Ginni Thomas and asked for her to appear and testify. Meanwhile, calls are growing for Justice Clarence Thomas to resign or recuse himself from cases involving Trump and the events of January 6th.

John Eastman, the legal scholar Donald Trump reportedly relied on to formulate the theory that Mike Pence could overturn the 2020 Presidential Election, is closely linked to the Thomases and many expect more information about Ginni’s involvement to come out soon.

Eastman clerked for her husband. It's always seemed entirely too coincidental that they were both pushing the fake slates of state electors plan. https://t.co/2uxEWgLDzC

— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) June 15, 2022

We see you Ginni Thomas. pic.twitter.com/Z3uLQfCXM9

— AvA ☮️ (@AvA4Bleue) June 16, 2022

The Supreme Court continues to face an escalating legitimacy problem, one which Justice Elena Kagan highlighted in oral arguments on a current case (Vega v. Tekoh) considering the future of Miranda rights, wondering how overturning the precedent of Miranda rights (like some of her more conservative colleagues on the 6-3 seemed in favor of) would affect the public's perception of the "legitimacy of the Court."

The Court has also been rocked by the leak of a draft decision purportedly overturning Roe v. Wade in May, which saw significant public pushback.

NEWS: Liz CHENEY agrees that it's time for the Jan. 6 select committee to talk to Ginni Thomas, per an aide.

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) June 16, 2022

The Ginni Thomas story is not going away. It’s like peeling back the layers of a rotten onion.

— Dan Rather (@DanRather) June 16, 2022

not too late for elected democrats to start screaming for clarence thomas’ resignation

— b-boy bouiebaisse (@jbouie) June 16, 2022