Shortly after the Supreme Court issued its final ruling of the term, Nina Totenberg published a bogus article proclaiming that long-time conservative Justice Samuel Alito would be retiring. Just minutes after the article went live, the outlet issued a vague retraction.
NEW - NPR published a story claiming to report that Justice Samuel Alito was retiring.
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) June 30, 2026
They are now facing massive criticism after issuing a retraction 10 minutes later.
Rough. pic.twitter.com/CsAmNUYKVU
Reporters at Townhall quickly grabbed screenshots of the article before NPR managed to strike it from the web.
Irresponsible. https://t.co/PFQQYgbptu pic.twitter.com/P89Zw725OP
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) June 30, 2026
Here is the full article announcing Justice Samuel Alito’s retirement, which @NPR quickly retracted: pic.twitter.com/vkPhxdxBvX
— Joe Chalfant (@JoeChalfant) June 30, 2026
The original statement regarding the retraction did not indicate what the outlet had even retracted. Readers were simply greeted with a message stating that “this story” had been removed. NPR editor-in-chief Thomas Evans then released a statement claiming that the article was published due to a “misunderstanding” without elaborating on what that could possibly mean.
NPR editor-in-chief Thomas Evans statement explaining what happened: pic.twitter.com/dyLWisC7MC
— Ben Mullin (@BenMullin) June 30, 2026
After seemingly realizing that the explanation raised more questions than answers, NPR reporters went deeper on the explanation: Nina Totenberg somehow misheard Chief Justice John Roberts announcing retirements and believed that Alito would be stepping down. The outlet claims that they rushed to publish the article rather than check with Alito’s office or the Supreme Court’s Public Information Office.
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UPDATE: NPR's Kelly McBride said reporter Nina Totenberg was listening to Chief Justice John Roberts announcing retirements and misheard one of his comments.
— Matthew Keys (@MatthewKeysLive) June 30, 2026
The story on Samuel Alito's retirement was pre-written and quickly published. No one checked with Alito's office first. https://t.co/pn2UUBrvLi
In a release issued by NPR, an executive claimed that they rushed to report the news due to the gravitas of Totenberg’s prior reporting. They claim that they do not wait for confirmation when she reports a SCOTUS development.
“Totenberg is one of the most experienced reporters covering the Supreme Court,” the release stated. “She's done so for NPR since 1975. Her status contributed to the error.”
The fishy story has given readers the impression that there’s far more to this story than what NPR is willing to tell.
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