“Nighty-Night, Baby, I Love You”:  Errant Tweet from “Cardinal” Tobin Raises Eyebrows

Don’t you hate it when that happens?

“Nighty-Night, Baby. I Love You”:
Errant Tweet from “Cardinal” Tobin Raises Eyebrows

Don’t you hate it when that happens? You think you’re sending a private message to a single individual, and the next thing you know is that you made a mistake or were careless and the sensitive message was sent to the general public. This is particularly unfortunate when you are a Novus Ordo cardinal and the message you sent contains the words: “Nighty-night, baby. I love you.”

This faux pas was committed by “Cardinal” Joseph W. Tobin, currently the “Catholic Archbishop” of Newark, New Jersey. Tobin sent these words across the globe as part of a public Twitter message from his account @JoeTobin on Feb. 21, 2018 at 8:05 pm ET. The tweet was deleted approximately two hours later. The incident has been reported both in the secular and the “Catholic” press and has caused no little embarrassment to the pretend-cardinal:

The head of New Jersey’s largest Catholic diocese promised Friday to be more careful when using social media after he mistakenly posted “Nighty-night, baby” on his public Twitter account.

Cardinal Joseph Tobin, who has been the head of the Archdiocese of Newark for more than a year, said he was sitting on a plane Wednesday night when he sent what he thought was a private Twitter message to one of his sisters.

When his plane landed two hours later, friends told him the message — “Supposed to be airborne in 10 minutes. Nighty-night, baby. I love you.” — was posted on his public Twitter account.

Tobin, 65, said he immediately took the message down.

(Kelly Heyboer, “N.J. cardinal apologizes after errant ‘Nighty-night, baby’ tweet”, NJ.com, Feb. 23, 2018)

Tobin then posted two public tweets to try to redress the damage caused:

Sitting on a plane last Wednesday evening, I mistakenly tweeted a message meant as a private communication with one of my sisters. When I arrived in Newark two hours later, friends informed me of the error and I immediately removed it.

— Joe Tobin (@JoeTobin) February 23, 2018

However, the tweet continues to be widely diffused and has sown some misunderstanding. I want to apologize to the priests and faithful of the Archdiocese of Newark, if my carelessness has caused any confusion or embarrassment. I promise to be more careful with future use of media

— Joe Tobin (@JoeTobin) February 23, 2018

Mr. Tobin is held in high esteem by “Pope” Francis, who appointed him “Archbishop” of Newark and raised him to the “cardinalate” in 2016 (source). The weightlifting pseudo-cardinal has made headlines in the past for his remark that he doesn’t see why women couldn’t be cardinals, and for his enthusiastic endorsement of an LGBT “pilgrimage” to his Newark cathedral (see here and also here).

Not surprisingly, not everyone is buying the “it was meant for my sister” explanation of “His Eminence.” Even a song parody has now been released mocking the incident and its official explanation:

At 65 years old, who addresses his sister as “baby” to wish her “nighty-night” as he is getting ready for take-off? Maybe there’s an investigative journalist out there who’s willing to do some research if perhaps there isn’t another “baby” this message may have been intended for.

As U.S. President Ronald Reagan liked to say: “Trust but verify.”

Image sources: Wikimedia Commons: Adsderrick (modified) / Twitter
License: CC BY-SA 4.0 / fair Use