The Girl Scouts Are Facing Backlash for This Controversial Tweet

Daisy Maldonado
·3 min read

The Girl Scouts are in the news right now, and it’s not about cookies. Rather, the organization is under fire after posting a now-deleted tweet congratulating Amy Coney Barrett for being the fifth woman appointed to the Supreme Court. And now, many people are vowing to boycott the organization due to their seemingly partisan actions.

“Congratulations Amy Coney Barrett on becoming the 5th woman appointed to the Supreme Court since its inception in 1789,” the organization tweeted. The tweet included an image showing the five women justices — Sandra Day O’Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Barrett.

Barrett is the third conservative justice appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Donald Trump, and is the successor of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Her appointment to the Supreme Court has struck fear that the court will now be likely to overturn rulings concerning access to health care and Roe v. Wade.

The Girl Scouts’ tweet was interpreted by many as support for Barrett, and it made users question the organization’s decision to post in the first place.

After deleting their original tweet, the Girl Scouts clarified that their post congratulating Barrett was not intended to be a political statement.

“Earlier today, we shared a post highlighting the five women who have been appointed to the Supreme Court. It was quickly viewed as a political and partisan statement which was not our intent and we have removed the post,” said the organization’s official Twitter page. They continued, “Girl Scouts of the USA is a nonpolitical, nonpartisan organization. We are neither red nor blue, but Girl Scout GREEN. We are here to lift up girls and women.”

However, their response still garnered criticism for choosing to step back from important issues. “‘The personal is political’ Political questions are questions of morals, values, and humanity. Are these not the things you are there to help teach, @girlscouts? We are all deeply impacted by politics. We should be teaching people to be fluent in it,” said activist Brittany Cunningham.

And in the Girl Scouts’ efforts to distance themselves from politics and deleting the tweet, it launched an even larger divide between those who support Justice Barrett and those who don’t.

‘Thin Mints’ started to trend as its own term while some pondered making their own homemade recipes instead of buying from their local Girl Scout troops this year.

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