NPR reporter Totenberg is everyone’s favourite meme after her moment with Schwarzenegger
MOVE over, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and your shade-y clap: The latest Washington woman to be inducted into the She-ro Hall of Fame is longtime NPR reporter Nina Totenberg.
Totenberg, who is considered the dean of the Supreme Court press corps, is being hailed as everyone’s #mood now that a clip of her purposefully striding over to former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in front of the court on Tuesday has gone viral. In the much-circulated video, Totenberg wears dark shades, a radio-ready headset and an expression that tells you that she means nothing but business as she points her microphone in the former pol’s direction to catch his speech — all against a backdrop of suit-wearing men. (The former Governator was there, along with Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, R, for oral arguments in a case about gerrymandering, Schwarzenegger’s post-electedoffice cause celebre.)
The moment delighted both reporters and layfolk. “Walk up to everyone you want to interview the way Nina Totenberg walks up to the Terminator,” wrote Slate writer Mary Harris.
“She’s walking up like ‘Your words. Give them to me. Now,’ “wrote another fan.
Schwarzenegger joined in the fun, tweeting that “It wouldn’t be a visit to the Supreme Court without answering a question” from Totenberg and declared himself “proud to be her costar.”
It all came full circle when Totenberg chimed in, too, giving herself a new nickname that will now never die. “So glad to be a Totenator to the Terminator!” she wrote, adding a back-to-business line that was perfectly on-brand: “It was a busy day at the Supremes for us all.”