As Supreme Court hearings go, Ketanji Brown Jackson’s has been mundane so far. Ketanji Brown Jackson has not been accused of false gang rape allegations and senators from the other party haven’t read any excerpts taken from her yearbook. Republicans instead have remained focused on the substance of questions and hit KBJ with their legal philosophy and record.
For her supporters, however, even this was too much. Evidently, her supporters expected to be completely submissive and lavish praise for their nominee. This is exactly the opposite of what Democrats did to Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh.
Thus, the talking points went forth, with one of them centering on Sen. Josh Hawley’s concern over KBJ going easy on those who traffic in child pornography. While Hawley’s approach was fair and stayed in the lane of relevance to her record, the White House threw out talking points claiming that he had previously voted for three judges with the same philosophy on sentencing pedophiles.
A naive ABC News reporter then tried to repeat those talking points verbatim in an attempted “gotcha” of Hawley. The conversation did not end well.
— Abigail Marone 🇺🇸 (@abigailmarone) March 22, 2022
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a Republican asked a question like this only to see them meekly respond by talking themselves in circles and then disengaging. Hawley’s approach is how most gotcha questions should be handled because most gotcha questions are ultimately rooted in surface-level assumptions brought forth without any prior research.
This reporter didn’t just come across the charge that Hawley was a hypocrite based on his prior votes for other judges. It was given to her by the White House. Her claim that it’s just “public information” was quickly demolished the moment Hawley asked her to give him details.
Here’s how you answer a gotcha. Ask the reporter what their talking points are. Ask them where they got their information. You should ask for the details they need to back up their claim. When they can’t provide them, victory is assured.
Hawley’s actual charges (or lack thereof), are not clear. The White House and its media allies did not provide any information to support the claim that Hawley or the other judges had been in agreement with KBJ regarding the sentence of pedophiles. Yet, even if they were, that’s irrelevant for two reasons. These judges weren’t nominated for the top court. A nominee from a lower court would likely not be subject to the same scrutiny that one who is on the Supreme Court.
Those defending KBJ’s record should defend it based on the merits. Tell us why you think she was correct in her gentle treatment of pedophiles. Cheap, thinly sourced distractions such as this one pointed at Hawley need not apply, and it’s good to see a Republican ready and waiting to combat such a weak strategy.
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