Girl Scouts Faces Backlash After Posting & Deleting A Tweet About Amy Coney Barrett

Hundreds of social media users have sworn off Thin Mints and criticized Girl Scouts of the United States of America, after the nonprofit youth organization tweeted about the newest Supreme Court justice. Although it has since been deleted, the Girl Scouts' Amy Coney Barrett tweet has left liberals and conservatives arguing over what it means to be nonpartisan and how far the Girls Scouts message of empowerment extends.

"Congratulations Amy Coney Barrett on becoming the 5th woman appointed to the Supreme Court since its inception in 1789," the Girl Scouts wrote in a since-deleted tweet posted Wednesday.

Almost immediately, however, the tweet came under criticism with Girl Scout cookie fans, former Girl Scouts, parents of Girl Scouts, and even celebrities weighing in. "Eight year old me did not stand outside of every grocery store within a 50-mile radius of San Diego County, in a thin mint costume, for this @girlscouts," one Twitter user remarked.

Rhonda Hart, the mother of a 14-year-old killed in the 2018 Santa Fe High School shooting, also took issue with the Girl Scouts' tweet. "My Kimberly [thrived] in your organization for 10 yrs, from Daisy to Senior. She was going to earn her Gold Award," Hart tweeted in response to the Girl Scouts tweet. "On May 18, 2018 she was murdered at school. Barrett is no champion of women and she is a second amendment shill. I am livid that you would post this. Gun rights is all about politics and don’t tell me it’s not. I am disappointed."

Actor Amber Tamblyn called the tweet "really disappointing" and predicted it "won't age well when access to safe abortion and the healthcare needs of millions of women and girls is gutted in this country because of Barrett's addition to the court."

Amid mounting criticism and calls to boycott the organization's annual cookie sale, Girl Scouts deleted its tweet congratulating Barrett on her appointment and sought to emphasize its status as a nonpartisan organization. "Earlier today, we shared a post highlighting the five women who have been appointed to the Supreme Court," the organization tweeted in explanation. "It was quickly viewed as a political and partisan statement which was not our intent and we have removed the post."

In a follow-up tweet, the organization noted, "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."

But, of course, not everyone was happy the Girl Scouts had opted to delete their initial tweet. Former Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly called deleting the tweet "pathetic" and argued it was "patriotic" to congratulate Barrett on her appointment to the Supreme Court. "Taking your tweet down *is* partisan, however, and a real disappointment," she added.

Still, others argued it wasn't about the Girl Scouts maintaining an appearance of nonpartisanship, but rather about not uplifting women whose values and work directly harms other women. "Support women who actually support women. Amy Coney Barrett does not," educator and activist Brittany Packnett Cunningham tweeted. "It's an incredibly basic standard. Honestly it's too low, but you couldn't even muster that."

In a series of connected tweets, Cunningham went on to argue the Girl Scouts should be teaching young girls to be fluent in politics, rather than striving to come across as nonpolitical.

"Political questions are questions of morals, values, and humanity. Are these not the things you are there to help teach, @girlscouts?" Cunningham asked. "We are all deeply impacted by politics. We should be teaching young people to be fluent in it. Because if your young women WERE fluent in politics and the ways in which political decisions gave been leveraged to diminish our autonomy over generations, not only would they not celebrate Amy Coney Barrett, they wouldn’t *become* Amy Coney Barrett."