Jill Biden and Sonia Sotomayor appear together at Bronx Children’s Museum event
By Arlette Saenz and Betsy Klein, CNN
First lady Jill Biden and Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor visited the Bronx Children’s Museum Wednesday, marking a rare moment where a justice from the nation’s highest court appeared at an event with one of the White House principals.
The two women visited with children and toured the museum to celebrate the recent opening of its permanent site as well as tout the multicultural education programming it offers to the community.
Sotomayor and Biden did not give formal remarks, but watched a musical performance by a group of children in matching museum t-shirts.
“You were great!” Biden exclaimed as she and Sotomayor greeted the children.
The first lady and the justice viewed some of the new exhibits at the museum as the children played with water and musical instruments and make-believe toys.
Sotomayor, a Bronx native, has long been a supporter of the museum, which permanently opened its new facility last year following a more than $16 million project. The museum features an area called “Sonia’s Corner,” which honors Sotomayor and Sonia Manzano, a former actress on Sesame Street and fellow Bronx native.
A White House official said the visit was coordinated through the museum but the first lady’s team was also in touch with the justice’s team about the event.
The appearance of the justice with the wife of the president, who often has cases in front of the high court, comes as the Supreme Court has been under scrutiny for conduct that at the least could give the appearance of a conflict.
Gabe Roth — the leader of Fix the Court, which advocates for more transparency and higher ethical standards around the judiciary — called their joint appearance “not ideal, but it’s not a three-alarm fire.”
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CNN’s Tierney Sneed contributed to this report.
