After celebrating on Wednesday how liberal Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer’s retirement was a “political elixir” for the White House, on Thursday, MSNBC anchor Chuck Todd was already hailing President Biden’s yet-to-be-named SCOTUS nominee as someone who will be as “iconic” as “Thurgood Marshall.” He later declared that there were “no red flags” in the still unnamed court pick’s record.
“Maya Wiley, before we get into the specifics of different potential nominees, this moment for women of color in the legal community,”Todd asked about the MSNBC left-leaning legal analyst at MSNBC early in the 1:00 pm. ET hour. Wiley exclaimed: “It is hard to overstate just how important and powerful and inspiring a moment this is.”
Turning to the Left-Hand Washington PostEugene Robinson, columnist, was just moments away when Todd fell in love with an unknown court choice: “And do you expect this future Supreme Court justice to be iconic in the black community, like Thurgood Marshall was?”Robinson agreed to this:
Absolutely. Absolutely. Because she broke the glass ceiling, I think that this justice will become an iconic like Thurgood Marshall.She broke a barrier. She will be the first, and that’s how history will remember her. And I think that’s how a lot of people will celebrate her once she is named and confirmed.
Looking at Biden’s likely short list of nominees – again, without knowing who the President would actually pick – Todd preemptively made this announcement about their records: “There’s clearly no red flags here for anybody…”Then, he asked Pete Williams to be his justice correspondent. “…in your cursory review of the short list here, is – do you see any potential yellow flags?”
Williams replied: “No, I don’t.”He admitted, however that it was too soon to make a definitive conclusion.
Todd asked the same question to Wiley again: “When you’re looking at those vetting things, any yellow flags you see?” Predictably, Wiley saw nothing and sneered that any potential criticism of the future liberal SCOTUS nominee would just be “read meat for Fox News” thrown out by Republicans:
I don’t see anyAnd I believe the truth of the politics surrounding this nomination will not be about their actual records …. So I expect that we’re going to see Republicans in particular looking for things they can make soundbites out of to be the red meat for Fox News, but that has nothing to do with any actual yellow flags.
Todd’s remarkable insight and that of his liberal guests regarding an unknown jurist illustrates the type of media coverage Biden will lavish upon the nominee for the Supreme Court.
This preemptive effort to boost Biden’s SCOTUS pick was brought to viewers by Progressive and The Farmer’s Dog. This is your chance to fight back against these advertisers by telling them what you think about their sponsorship of such content.
This transcript contains excerpts of the coverage from January 27, 2009.
12:00 PM ET
(…)
CHUCK TODD: As we mentioned on this show yesterday, when the news was first breaking, Breyer’s retirement is supremely good timing for the President and his party, it’s a chance for Democrats to refocus their midterm messaging a bit, re-energize a deflated base, and re-engage on issues ranging from abortion to voting rights and more that might play in their favor in a midterm election cycle.(…)
TODD: Kelly. I’d like to begin with the speech that was made by President Trump. It – you could just tell, in my conversations with sources at the White House yesterday, I’m sure you felt it, you can, as you said on the air yesterday, you know when a moment changes and it almost feels like it’s changed the President’s posture, if you will.
KELLY O’DONNELL: There is almost a sense of relief coming through the President. His personal connections to Justice Breyer were more evident as he relaxed. The memo was then given to us, kind of. He anticipated all the questions from our colleagues about the timeline and how the process would play out. Many more questions will come up and we’ll be asking for interim accountability from the President. But he gave us the roadmap of how he’s going to handle this.And for a brief moment here at least, events have moved in his direction where he’s got some control. Many of the issues that have impacted his presidency, such as Vladimir Putin’s COVID and global economies, are not within his control. So of the things he can control, he’s got a process he can run in the White House with people who know how this process works.
He’s got a selection of terrific candidates who are esteemed women who have a lot to offer the Court, and he has a chance to make a historic appointment and one that allows him to follow through on a campaign promise that he made at a time when he was, in some ways, if I may use this, you know, throwing a long ball as a candidate who was in some trouble, trying to make an appeal as a candidate, and then time has brought that to fruition where he now has the moment where he can make that a pivot point in American history and place an African American woman jurist on the high court.
(…)
1.08 pm ET
TODD: Maya Wiley. Before we go into details about potential nominees for the Supreme Court, let’s take a moment to remember women of color within the legal community.
MAYA WILEY: This moment can’t be overemphasized.
(…)
12:00 PM ET
EUGENE ROBINSON : This is what I believe part of the effect, and you mentioned it briefly at the start, but the Democratic Party has a chance stop moping about it and can talk about something the party shares. The party can also celebrate and engage in a fight, if Republicans are willing to make this a battle. A battle the Democrats will win. I mean, there’s not a Manchin-Sinema problem with judicial nominees, they’ve approved all of Biden’s judges. So it’s very healthy, I think, for the Democratic Party as it looks toward the midterm. You’ve got to have your base animated. This will be a great way to get the Democratic Party’s black female base excited.
TODD: That’s what I was curious about is how much of a difference do you think this could make? Do you think this Supreme Court Justice will be as iconic for the black community in his future role, just like Thurgood Marshall?
ROBINSON: Absolutely. Absolutely. This justice is an icon, like Thurgood Marshal. She has broken a barrier. She will be the first, and that’s how history will remember her. And I think that’s how a lot of people will celebrate her once she is named and confirmed.
(…)
1:06 PM ET
TODD: Pete Williams, in your cursory review of the short list here, is – do you see any potential yellow flags? There’s clearly no red flags here for anybody as far as – do you see any yellow flags?
PETE WILLIAMS: No, I don’t.
(…)
TODD: When you’re looking at those vetting things, any yellow flags you see?
WILEY: I don’t see any, and I think the reality of the politics of this nomination is not going to be about their actual records.
(…)
WILEY: So I would expect that we’re going to see Republicans in particular looking for things they can make soundbites out of to be the red meat for Fox News, but that has nothing to do with any actual yellow flags.
(…)
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