Liberal journalists believed Judge Ketanji Jackson was the perfect choice for the Supreme Court. Republican senators could not even question her case history without being driven by racism.
Reporters, hosts, pundits and newspaper editors were so outraged they actually claimed Republican treatment of Jackson was worse than that of Justice Brett Kavanaugh (whose opponents falsely accused of rape) and that the GOP’s “Confederacy Crew” were asking questions that would get President Biden’s Supreme Court nominee “killed.”
The late night talk show hosts also joined in the pile-on with the likes of ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel calling the hearings the GOP’s “subtle racism jamboree.”
Below is a compilation of worst reactions from liberal journalists, late-night talk show host hosts and other media during the Ketanji brown Jackson hearings.
GOP Senator Trying to Get Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson “Killed”
“What [Republican Senator] Josh Hawley is doing when he tries to do this is he’s trying to get her [Ketanji Brown Jackson] killed. He wants to inflict violence on a Supreme Court nominee. And we know this because when these people go off making their ridiculous claims about child pornography, we know that some of their people show up violently to do stuff, as happened to the New Hampshire pizza parlor.”
— The Nation justice correspondent Elie Mystal on MSNBC’s Cross ConnectionMarch 19.
“Here’s the thing, Josh Hawley is not backing down. What he is doing is dangerous, it is character assassination of a woman who is going to be confirmed.”
— Host Stephanie Ruhle on MSNBC’s The 11th HourApril 21, 2001.
Host Wolf Blitzer: “What is your reaction to this exchange? Republican Senator Josh Hawley trying to paint Judge Jackson as somehow sympathetic to child porn offenders.”
Jeffrey Toobin, chief legal analyst: “This was really extraordinary. This judge has almost been on the court for ten years. And we had the entire half-hour of Senator Hawley’s question about a single case where he got to recite the grisly details of, and say pedophilia over and over again. This is about appealing to the QAnon audience, this cult that is a big presence in Republican Party politics now.”
— CNN’s Situation Room22 March
GOP’s “Confederacy Crew” Stuck In “19th Century”
“She was treated essentially like Anita Hill. Christine Blasey Ford treated her like Anita Hill. Because she’s a woman, she could not act like [Supreme Court Justice Brett] Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh. White men can act as children and get just as far or more than they do. This message was sent very clearly. [Republican Senator] Lindsey Graham, all the little mansplainers, all the little Confederacy Crew that really sounded like they were in the 19th century still.”
— Host Joy Reid on MSNBC’s ReidOut23 March
Jackson is not cruel enough for Republicans
“Democrats praised President Joe Biden’s choice of the Harvard-educated lawyer and appellate court judge as long overdue, making the judicial branch begin to look more like America. But Republicans argue Jackson brings too much empathy to the job.”
— March 25 tweet from Associated Press’s official Twitter account.
Questioning Jackson’s Case History WORSE Than False Rape Accusation
“Republicans boast they have not pulled a Kavanaugh. In fact, they’ve treated Jackson worse.”
— Headline to Washington Post’sLead editorial, 23 March
GOP’s “Searing Attacks” Felt “So Personal”
Gayle King is your host: “I watched a lot of the hearings yesterday. It was extremely painful to see. It was very painful to watch. What can you tell us about the plan for the final day?”|
Nikole Kaillion, Correspondent: “Well, the plan today is that Judge Jackson won’t be in the hot seat as a panel of experts testify after an emotional and exhaustive hearing with searing attacks on the first Black woman who is likely to be confirmed to the Supreme Court….Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson welled up on her final day of questioning….Relentless questioning over her sentencing record in child exploitation cases.”…
King: “It was so tough, I thought, yesterday to watch, regardless of how you feel about her. It felt so personal watching her being really attacked for something that has nothing to do with the job that she’s going to do.”…
Co-host Nate Burleson: “I think the word ‘attack’ is a fitting word here.”
— CBS MorningsMarch 24, 2003
Angry at “Thuggish” “Screamy and Weird” Republicans
“The word I would use for [Republican Senator] Tom Cotton was thuggish….I thought [Republican Senator] Lindsey Graham was screamy and weird….[Republican Senator] Josh Hawley, ridiculous….They’re claiming that they are the defenders of the integrity of childhood. They’re going to go after child pornography and rape. And they’re going to defend the integrity of childhood. [Supreme Court Justice]Brett Kavanaugh, a credible accusation, was convicted of rape. Both high school students and college students were raped! Josh Hawley is also known as and [Republican Senator]Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham and all you other people are [Republican Senator] Mike Lee, and Tom ‘thuggish’ Cotton. You didn’t defend teenage victims of the man you gleefully put in a lifetime position on the Supreme Court. You don’t get to say anything about Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. She bested you intellectually and you’re mad about it. Stay mad!”
— Host Joy Reid on MSNBC’s ReidOutMarch 22, 2002.
Absurd Assertion
“One thing that was, I thought, incredibly striking, at times she [Ketanji Brown Jackson] almost sounded like a conservative.”
— Chief legal correspondent Jan Crawford on CBS live coverage of Ketanji Brown Jackson hearings, March 22.
No “Red Flags,” Will Be Hard to For GOP To Paint Jackson as “Judicial Extremist”
CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell: “Do you see any hurdles after what you heard today?”….
Jan Crawford, CBS correspondent: “I don’t see any red flags….They’re [Republican senators]They will try to determine her judicial philosophy to prove that she is not like the image we saw. I think that’s going to be pretty hard for them to do.”
— CBS News live coverage of Ketanji Brown Jackson hearings, March 21.
Citing Jackson’s Best Friends Forever, Not Exactly the Treatment Kavanaugh Got
“Confirmation hearings start on Monday for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson….Nancy Cordes spoke to some of her oldest friends — The truth is always told by our oldest friends — who are not surprised by her success….You can always count on your girlfriends to get you through and support you and lift you up. Thank you, Nancy, that was really lovely.”
— Co-host Gayle King onCBS MorningsMarch 18, 2008.
Robin Roberts is the co-host “We are talking with her [Ketanji Brown Jackson] lifelong friends sharing what they want us to know about their dear friend who’s on the cusp of history.”…
Deborah Roberts is the correspondent “They kind of pulled back the curtains on the life of Judge Jackson. They call themselves The Ladies during their college days, a tight group of friends who had each other’s backs during the college days. There were parties and fun moments, they say, but it was clear their spirited friend Ketanji, who had been a standout student, was going to go far….Their friend, they say, always has had the right stuff.”
— ABC’s Good Morning AmericaMarch 9, 2009.
“I was texting with one of her closest friends today and they told me yesterday was very, very emotional, but that they believe that their friend is like an Olympic athlete who has been training for this their whole — her whole life.”
— PBS Washington WeekYamiche Alcindor (NBC News Washington correspondent) moderator, live coverage by NBC News of Ketanji brown Jackson hearings, 22 March.
Judge Jackson So “Perfect,” Any Criticism is Racist
Whoopi Goldberg is the co-host “Just based on the people, the last three [Supreme Court Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch]They put in. It’s a woman. [Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson]….who can outshine each and every one of those people.”
Revolt TV host Eboni Williams: “Very literally.”
Goldberg: “Her abilities are outstanding. I mean, she’s outstanding. So, you put in Amy Coney Barrett, you put in the other one, you know, and you’re questioning her?”
Williams: “But Whoopi, let’s not pretend we don’t know what this is about. What bus always arrives on time? It is the one that indicts black women’s qualifications in this country. And so that bus is never late.”
Goldberg: “It’s never late.”
— ABC’s The ViewMarch 18, 2008.
Late Night Hosts Slam GOP’s “Subtle Racism Jamboree”
“Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee today. If nothing unexpected occurs, it is likely that the vote will go according to party lines. These hearings, they give a number of our Republican senators a chance to compete in one of their favorite events, the Subtle Racism Jamboree….She doesn’t need any Republican votes to get confirmed because the Vice President [Kamala Harris] is the tie-breaker….That would be the GOP’s ultimate nightmare. Having this decided by two black women whose names they can’t pronounce.”
— Host Jimmy Kimmel on ABC’sJimmy Kimmel LiveApril 21, 2001.
“She said the fact that she was even nominated shows how far we’ve come as a country, and so some of the Republican senators on the committee have been hard at work to show how far we haven’t.”
— Host Jimmy Kimmel on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live23 March
“This is how low the United States government has fallen. We’ve gone from ‘Let’s put a man on the moon within the decade’ to ‘Maybe someday we can get at least one Republican to vote for a qualified woman.’”
— Host James Corden on CBS’s James Corden on The Late Late ShowMarch 23, 2003.
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