Journalist apologizes for false report of Clarence Thomas and Ron DeSantis meeting before Dobbs decision: 'I am just embarrassed as hell'

A journalist with the Independent issued profuse apologies after he falsely reported a meeting between a Supreme Court justice and a Republican governor the day before the pivotal Dobbs decision.

The report said that Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had met with Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas just before the court overturned Roe v. Wade, the decision that established federal abortion rights in the U.S.

Apparently, Eric Michael Garcia simply misread the dates of the meeting and decision.

Garcia apologized after DeSantis' deputy press secretary Jeremy Redfern called out the error and pointed out the mistake in the dates, which were separated by a year, not just one day.

"Hey @EricMGarcia from the @Independent, Is June 23th, 2021 a day before June 24th, 2022?" Redfern tweeted.

Garcia began a long series of tweets with apologies only four minutes after Redfern sent his rebuke.

"I am legitimately so sorry. I was not trying to mislead. I am legitimately embarrassed and humiliated. I never wanted to do anything malicious. I am so apologetic. I should have double-checked the dates," Garcia tweeted.

"We are taking the article down. I cannot apologize enough. I should have double-checked triple-checked dates," he said in a second tweet.

"I am mortified and legitimately embarrassed. I want to thank @JeremyRedfernFL for flagging. And apologize to Governor DeSantis and Justice Thomas. This is a horrible error on my part," he said in a third tweet.

"The story is in the process of being retracted. I am just embarrassed as hell. Words cannot describe how mortified I am. I try to be honest in my work. I don't try to do gotcha journalism. I always hated that. I can never apologize enough," he said in a fourth tweet.

Others pointed out that even if the story had been true, the meeting would not have proven that Thomas had been politically pressured by DeSantis to revoke the Roe v. Wade decision.

Despite the retraction, some left-wing activist accounts continued to amplify the false story.

"If you support impeaching Justice Clarence Thomas after he was just EXPOSED by leaked emails revealing that he had a shady meeting with MAGA Gov. Ron DeSantis the day before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade — please retweet and follow us!" wrote Occupy Democrats.

Twitter added a note to the tweet explaining that the story had been retracted.

Here's more from Clarence Thomas:

Justice Clarence Thomas: "I do think what happened at the Court is tremendously bad."www.youtube.com