While interviewing Democratic Senator and Judiciary Committee member Chris Coons on Monday, the hosts of CBS Mornings urged for quick confirmation of President Biden’s Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson and saw no reason for any “delay at all when it comes to her background.” In addition, the broadcast fondly recalled how the person Jackson was replacing, liberal Justice Stephen Breyer, received 87 votes when the Senate confirmed him in the 1990s.
“What’s the timeline for the confirmation hearings of President Biden’s nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson?,” co-host Nate Burleson asked Coons during a softball exchange with the Delaware Democrat. Coons replied: “We’ll begin reading into her decisional record, her background. My hope is that we will have a confirmation process that is fair, that is swift, that is transparent, and that will see her seated on the Supreme Court later this spring....a confirmation vote before Easter.”
Fellow co-host Tony Dokoupil was not happy with the already rapid timeline and complained: “But, Senator, what is the delay at all when it comes to her background? She was just confirmed less than a year ago for the federal circuit court of appeals. Everything seems to be ready to go.”
On Friday, amid CBS’s swooning over Biden naming Jackson to the high court, Dokoupil actually asked about a “controversial” aspect of the liberal federal judge’s record that should be looked into: “What will likely come up is her work as a public defender, as you point out, because one of the roles she played as a public defender was to take on at least one case of a prisoner in Guantanamo Bay, controversial cases all.”
Apparently that question went out the window for him by Monday morning.
Coons agreed with Dokoupil: “Yes, you’re right, she was very recently confirmed to the D.C. Circuit. So we’ve recently had a chance to review her record.” He then cited “the precedent of the confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett, which was raced through in a matter of just a few weeks by the Republicans.”
CBS used those same Democratic Party talking points in the fall of 2020 to question the very legitimacy of Barrett’s nomination. On September 29 of that year, co-host Gayle King brought on Anita Hill to argue “that a thorough Supreme Court confirmation can happen before the election.” On October 12, King opened the show by touting: “How Democrats plan to challenge her credentials and the legitimacy of these hearings.” On October 26, then-co-host Anthony Mason seized on Democrats accusing “Republicans of a reprehensible power grab,” followed by correspondent Nancy Cordes whining about, “A lightning-fast process that is still drawing fury from Democrats.”
In sharp contrast, while speaking of Jackson on Monday, King had adopted a very different tone as she lamented how “some Republicans are already calling her too radical.” She asked Coons if the confirmation would be bipartisan.
Moments later, Dokoupil longed for the days when liberal Supreme Court nominees from Democratic presidents got a rubber stamp from the Senate: “It’s worth remembering that when Breyer, who she would replace, was confirmed, he got 87 Republican votes – 87 votes. Eighty seven to nine was the vote. So very bipartisan. We’re in a different world.”
King chimed in: “That’s right. And no one disputes her qualifications.”
They conveniently didn’t mention how nasty, personal attacks on conservative court nominees like Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh by partisan Democrats (like Joe Biden) poisoned the process.
When a conservative nominee like Barrett was nominated to high court less than two years ago, CBS hyped Democratic claims that the process was “lightening-fast” and illegitimate. Now that a liberal like Jackson has been named to the Supreme Court, the network is frustrated that anyone wants to examine her record and bemoans the fact that she won’t get “87 votes.”
This glaring double standard displayed by CBS was brought to viewers by CVS and Febreze. You can fight back by letting these advertisers know what you think of them sponsoring such content.
Here is a transcript of the February 28 exchange with Coons:
8:07 AM ET
(...)
NATE BURLESON: Senator, you’re also on the Senate Judiciary Committee. What’s the timeline for the confirmation hearings of President Biden’s nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson?
SEN. CHRIS COONS [D-DE]: Well, Judge Jackson will begin meeting with senators this week. We’ll begin reading into her decisional record, her background. My hope is that we will have a confirmation process that is fair, that is swift, that is transparent, and that will see her seated on the Supreme Court later this spring. My hope is we’ll have a confirmation vote before Easter.
TONY DOKOUPIL: But, Senator, what is the delay at all when it comes to her background? She was just confirmed less than a year ago for the federal circuit court of appeals. Everything seems to be ready to go.
COONS: That’s right. Typically the – the Judiciary Committee had a long tradition of taking at least a few weeks to give members to meet with the nominee, to read into their background. There’s two things at play here. Yes, you’re right, she was very recently confirmed to the D.C. Circuit. So we’ve recently had a chance to review her record. And she hasn’t written many decisions since she was confirmed, it was so recent. But frankly, also the precedent of the confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett, which was raced through in a matter of just a few weeks by the Republicans under the previous administration. Those two in combination suggest this might be a rather swift confirmation process.
GAYLE KING: It’s going to be interesting, though, because some Republicans are already calling her too radical. Yes or no, do you expect bipartisan support on this?
COONS: I would certainly hope so. She got three Republican votes when confirmed for the D.C. Circuit. She hasn’t changed in the last few months. And she has outstanding credentials, a remarkable background, and she will make historic contributions to our Supreme Court.
DOKOUPIL: Three Republican votes. It’s worth remembering that when Breyer, who she would replace, was confirmed, he got 87 Republican votes – 87 votes. Eighty seven to nine was the vote. So very bipartisan. We’re in a different world.
KING: That’s right. And no one disputes her qualifications.
(...)
