Katie Couric Says She "Protected" Ruth Bader Ginsburg During an Interview About National Anthem Kneeling

Now that the Today show is in the rear-view, Katie Couric is giving fans a chance to learn about exactly what happened behind the scenes while she was at the desk with her new book, Going There. According to the Daily Mail, one of Couric's most high-profile interviews was with the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg — and when they discussed athletes like Colin Kaepernick taking a knee during the national anthem, Couric chose to leave some of Ginsburg's comments out in order to "protect" her.

In the book, Couric wrote that that RGB "was elderly and probably didn't understand the question" though it's clear that she didn't mince words when it came down to what she believed the act of protest really was.

When Yahoo eventually posted a video of the interview, it did include Ginsburg saying that she thought kneeling as an act of protest was "dumb and disrespectful," though it left out some of her stronger opinions.

Photo by Eugene Gologursky/Getty Images for Berggruen Institute

Not standing for the national anthem shows a "contempt for a government that has made it possible for their parents and grandparents to live a decent life ... Which they probably could not have lived in the places they came from ... as they became older, they realize that this was youthful folly," Ginsburg said, according to Couric's book. "And that's why education is important. I think it's a terrible thing to do, but I wouldn't lock a person up for doing it. I would point out how ridiculous it seems to me to do such an act."

Couric went on to say that when she was working on the book, she felt extremely "conflicted" over the situation and wasn't sure if she would include Ginsburg's full thoughts on kneeling. It didn't help that she is a self-admitted "big RGB fan."

After the sit-down, Couric adds that the Supreme Court's head of public affairs emailed her and said that Ginsburg had "misspoken." The public affairs office went on to request that RGB's comments be removed from the interview. Couric complied at the time, but now that she's explaining it all in her book, readers will get a chance to hear the whole story when Going There is released on October 26.