He’s a top Harvard academic who has appeared in the Supreme Court 36 times…
Top Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe made what appears to be a really embarrassing social media gaffe yesterday.
There’s no doubting Tribe is very, very clever. He’s one of only 24 current Harvard University professors, a title the Ivy League institution gives out sparingly. He’s appeared in the Supreme Court of the United States 36 times, and is now reportedly suing President Donald Trump over claims his business ownership violates the constitution.
While we’re sure 75-year-old Tribe is a busy man, he also seems to spend much of his time delighting his 91,500-strong Twitter following. Check out some of his angrier Trump tweets:
As more emerges re @realDonaldTrump's theft of the presidency it gets clearer that we mustn't keep calling him POTUS. He's a usurper.
— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) March 31, 2017
Trump keeps trumping himself. You think he couldn't get crazier or go lower, and then he proves you wrong. It's his one undisputed skill! https://t.co/Fewo3eqdyQ
— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) April 6, 2017
And then yesterday there was, um, this:
100 years ago today we declared war on Germany, starting World War I.
— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) April 6, 2017
As many (many) people will know, WWI actually began in 1914. Three years later, American troops joined in the fighting. His Twitter followers were at pains to point this out to the seemingly confused professor:
@tribelaw That's funny, the rest of the world thinks WWI started in 1914.
— Nick Morgan (@NickBMorgan) April 6, 2017
@tribelaw Uh, pretty sure that didn't start WWI.
— Tim Morgan (@nagrommit) April 6, 2017
Others, however, have suggested Tribe was being ironic:
@nagrommit @tribelaw Pretty sure he was being ironic about American's tendency to describe big events in terms of our country's involvement.
— David DiSabatino (@DavidDiSab) April 6, 2017
But it seems his remark was just a genuine mistake. Tribe told Legal Cheek:
You’re certainly right. I meant that we initiated our participation in WWI 100 years ago yesterday.
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