'Notorious' Ruth Bader Ginsburg 'Wasn't 100 Percent Sober' at State of the Union
Ginsburg says a fine California wine made her doze off .. again.
— -- Ruth Bader Ginsburg may be living up to her nickname, "Notorious," after she admitted that she wasn't "100 percent sober" at President Obama's State of the Union address this year.
The Supreme Court justice said her imbibing may have been part of the reason why she was caught on camera apparently falling asleep at the televised address.
"The audience, for the most part is awake, because they’re bobbing up and down, and we sit there, stone-faced, sober judges. But we’re not, at least I wasn't, 100 percent sober," she said Thursday night during a talk hosted by the Smithsonian Associates in D.C., according to The Blaze.
The 81-year-old said that she wasn't responsible for bringing the booze. Rather, it was another of the country's top judges.
"Before we went to the State of the Union, Justice Kennedy brought in ... it was an Opus something or other, very fine California wine, and I vowed this year, just sparkling water, stay away from the wine," Ginsburg reportedly said. "But in the end, the dinner was so delicious, it needed wine."
Cameras within House chamber caught Ginsburg nodding off, and she was alerted to it by an eagle-eyed relative.
"So I got a call when I came home from one of my granddaughters and she said, 'Bubbe, you were sleeping at the State of the Union!'" Ginsburg said at Thursday night's talk.
It wasn't the first time that Ginsburg, who is the subject of an online meme that dubbed her "Notorious RBG," a play on rapper The Notorious B.I.G.'s a similar nickname, was seen dozing off during the annual speech.
She was caught nearly doubled over in 2014.
And, speaking in 2013, she blamed "a very good California wine that Tony Kennedy brought" to a dinner before the 2012 State of the Union for that year's catnap, according to The Washington Post.
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