On New Day Saturday, CNN analyst Errol Louis suggested that Republicans are opposed to and bitter about the acquisition of civil rights for African Americans as he reacted to Republican resistance to Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's appointment to the Supreme Court.
CNN co-host Boris Sanchez began by asking for reaction to Jackson's confirmation, leading Louis -- a veteran journalist and liberal former politician in New York -- to declare that her appointment was "a really remarkable achievement not only for her and her family but for the whole United States."
After Sanchez followed up by noting that most Republicans did not applaud, and some left the chamber promptly after the confirmation vote, Louis compared them to "dinosaurs headed back into the swamp."
He then suggested that Judge Jackson's Republican critics represent a backlash to the Civil Rights Movement and oppose "progress" like the appointment of Judge Jackson:
I mentioned that this in some ways is the fulfillment of the Civil Rights Movement. Movements give rise to counter movements. There are people who are not happy about the progress this country has made. They have a very different vision or want to freeze things where they are or take them backwards. Lindsey Graham represents that faction, as does Rand Paul, as does, you know, Tom Cotton, Josh Hawley and the rest. And, you know, we know their names now, but I think the history books will, I guess, just note in passing those who didn't want to see the country progress and were soon forgotten.
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Transcript follows. Click "expand" to read more.
CNN's New Day Saturday
4/9/2022
7:22 a.m.
BORIS SANCHEZ: Let's start with history. I want to get your reaction -- what you were feeling listening to that emotional speech from Justice Brown Jackson.
ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning, Boris. Like everybody else -- or like many other people -- a lot of pride in what had happened. When she said that her family has gone from segregation to the Supreme Court in one generation, I mean, that's really meaningful. And it's been such a meaningful generation.
This to me is, you know, the sort of -- it was the whole point and purpose of the Civil Rights Movement, including affirmative action was sort of the last phase of the Civil Rights Movement to allow people who went through the kind of institutions like Harvard that allow for people like Ketanji Brown Jackson to rise unfettered, you know, to really reach her potential as opposed to the limits that society might put on her for nefarious reasons. And, I mean, it's for everyone to see -- a really remarkable achievement not only for her and her family but for the whole United States -- a really happy moment.
SANCHEZ: And one would think that this would be an opportunity to reflect and celebrate the progress this nation has made regardless of ideology or regardless of political leanings. Again, there were visible signs during her confirmation that many Republicans were either eager to honor that moment. Mitt Romney was the only GOP Senator who remained clapping after the vote. There were GOP Senators that showed up late. Lindsey Graham forgot a tie. He wasn't on the floor for his vote. Is that reaching too much into the moment? Or what do you take from those incidents?
LOUIS: Well, let me correct you. Lindsey Graham didn't forget his tie. He was wearing it earlier, and then he took it off. And without a tie, under the rules of the Senate, you can't be on the floor, so he cast his no vote from the cloakroom, sticking his thumb out to point it downward. That kind of petty foolishness, you know, we've come to expect today. It's part of what's broken about Washington. And then, of course, the last, you know, this piece of disrespect was as people were applauding after the vote. And bunch of them stood up and, you know, sort of stormed out of the chamber like dinosaurs headed back into the swamp. This is what you do come to expect frankly.
I mentioned that this in some ways is the fulfillment of the Civil Rights Movement. Movements give rise to counter movements. There are people who are not happy about the progress this country has made. They have a very different vision or want to freeze things where they are or take them backwards. Lindsey Graham represents that faction, as does Rand Paul, as does, you know, Tom Cotton, Josh Hawley and the rest. And, you know, we know their names now, but I think the history books will, I guess, just note in passing those who didn't want to see the country progress and were soon forgotten.
