Sports Illustrated is catching heat after posting a tweet about a high school coach’s case pending before the Supreme Court and his praying on a football field.
The sports outlet cast the dispute as the “erosion of the separation of church and state,” appearing to side against the coach.
“The SCOTUS case of Joe Kennedy, a public school coach who prayed on-field after games,” the tweet reads. “The expected ruling: a Kennedy win and the erosion of the separation of church and state.”
The SCOTUS case of Joe Kennedy, a public school coach who prayed on-field after games
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) June 13, 2022
The expected ruling: a Kennedy win and the erosion of the separation of church and state ↓ https://t.co/jUeFQqEh3C
Some responses to the tweet revealed it rubbed readers the wrong way, with some saying they would cancel their subscription or voicing support for the coach.
Sen. Marco Rubio, Florida Republican, chimed in on the backlash.
“The U.S. House & Senate open every session with a prayer so I think our republic will survive a high school coach praying on a field after games,” Mr. Rubio tweeted.
And Florida radio host Brian Mudd also pushed back, tweeting that Sports Illustrated doesn’t understand the Constitution.
“What have we learned here? A) @SInow has no clue that there’s no such thing as “separation of church & state” in the Establishment Clause, B) They still suck,” Mr. Mudd wrote.
The high court case at issue concerns Washington state high school football coach Joe Kennedy, who lost his job over praying on the 50-yard-line.
He brought his case to the Supreme Court to defend his First Amendment rights.
The justices heard his case in April, and are set to rule on the dispute by the end of the month.
A spokesperson for Sports Illustrated did not respond to a request for comment.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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