On Friday, in preparation for the start of Senate confirmation hearings for President Biden’s left-wing Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson next week, CBS Mornings offered a “lovely” profile of the federal judge by chatting with her “oldest friends.” The members of Jackson’s self-described “hype team” were given a national platform to swoon over the “brilliance” of their BFF.
“Plus, confirmation hearings start on Monday for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson....Nancy Cordes spoke to some of her oldest friends – oldest friends always tell the truth – who are not surprised by her success,” co-host and Democratic Party donor Gayle King gushed at the top of the show. Fellow liberal co-host Tony Dokoupil excitedly chimed in: “I’m looking forward to that.”
Later, in the 8:00 a.m. ET hour, the broadcast devoted four minutes of air time to correspondent Nancy Cordes talking to Jackson’s “longtime friends” about being her cheering section. “I’ve always known she could be the one,” proclaimed University of Pennsylvania law professor and Jackson’s college friend Lisa Fairfax. Cordes touted how Fairfax “has known Ketanji Brown Jackson for more than half her life, cheering her on as she went from public defender to federal judge to Supreme Court nominee.”
Fairfax hailed: “The unmitigated joy of seeing someone that I love be nominated is why I’m still smiling right now and probably getting ready to tear up.” Cordes declared: “Fairfax is one-fourth of a remarkable quartet. Four women who met they’re freshman year at Harvard University and all went on together to Harvard Law School.”
Northeastern University law professor and Jackson’s college roommate Antoinette Coakley preached that her friend’s nomination was “divine intervention.” Cordes hyped how Jackson “pushed her friends to excel,” before announcing: “By sophomore year, Coakley was openly predicting that her roommate would someday be the first black woman to be named to the Supreme Court.”
Coakley heralded:
I thought if there was ever an opportunity for someone that came from our background to ascend to those heights it would be her. It had to be her. She had the keen intelligence, the brilliance, the ability to bring people together.
Recalling the moment weeks earlier when Biden named Jackson to the high court, Fairfax told of “sobbing hysterically” with joy while corporate attorney and college friend Nina Simmons remembered: “We just screamed, jumping up and down.”
The only moment in the entire fawning segment when Cordes even acknowledged criticism was when she sympathetically asked Fairfax: “Some moments are harder than others. How did you feel and how did she feel when you heard some people saying, ‘Well, President Biden established a quota and she’s just gonna be there to meet a quota’?” Fairfax lamented: “How I felt is that they don’t understand. They don’t understand that if there’s a barrier in place, you can’t ignore it.”
Fairfax then concluded: “What does it mean, her nomination, and hopefully confirmation? What does it mean? It means America, come on, yes. This is who we want to be. This is who we said we want to be.”
Cordes wrapped up the report by applauding Jackson’s career: “If confirmed, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson would be the first former public defender to sit on the high court, meaning that for years she represented defendants who otherwise could not have afforded an attorney, a right enshrined in the Constitution.”
King praised the puff piece: “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.”
Completely missing from the sycophantic coverage was any critical examination of Judge Jackson’s actual record. There was no mention of the controversy swirling around her showing leniency to sex offenders, defending a Guantanamo Bay detainee terror suspect in court, or espousing support for radical ideas like Critical Race Theory.
Instead, CBS mirrored the ridiculous softball cheerleading for Jackson that ABC’s Good Morning America engaged in just one week earlier, when correspondent Deborah Roberts spoke to the exact same group of “lifelong friends” to boost the Supreme Court nominee.
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Here is a full transcript of the March 18 segment:
7:02 AM ET TEASE
GAYLE KING: Plus, confirmation hearings start on Monday for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. She could become the first black woman on the Supreme Court. Nancy Cordes spoke to some of her oldest friends – oldest friends always tell the truth – who are not surprised by her success.
TONY DOKOUPIL: I’m looking forward to that.
8:13 AM ET SEGMENT
VLADIMIR DUTHIERS: Confirmation hearings begin Monday on Capitol Hill for President Biden’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. If approved, she would be the first African American woman to serve on the highest court in the country. It’s a distinction, believe it or not, that one of her friends first predicted way back when they met in college. Nancy Cordes caught up with three of Judge Jackson’s oldest friends.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Who Is Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson?; Longtime Friends Describe Relationship With Biden’s SCOTUS Nominee]
LISA FAIRFAX [UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA CAREY LAW SCHOOL PRESIDENTIAL PROFESSOR]: I’ve always known she could be the one.
NANCY CORDES: Lisa Fairfax has known Ketanji Brown Jackson for more than half her life, cheering her on as she went from public defender to federal judge to Supreme Court nominee.
FAIRFAX: The unmitigated joy of seeing someone that I love be nominated is why I’m still smiling right now and probably getting ready to tear up.
CORDES: Fairfax is one-fourth of a remarkable quartet. Four women who met they’re freshman year at Harvard University and all went on together to Harvard Law School.
ANTOINETTE COAKLEY [NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW PROFESSOR]: I think it was divine intervention.
CORDES: Like Fairfax, Antoinette Coakley is now a law professor. Nina Simmons is a corporate attorney.
NINA SIMMONS [CORPORATE ATTORNEY]: We met, we bonded, we became roommates, and then we became lifelong friends.
CORDES: Fairfax says it was a young Ketanji Brown, the child of two teachers, who pushed her friends to excel.
FAIRFAX: I remember she would – she would say to me, “You know, so much can be done early in the mornings.” Like, really? [Laughter]
CORDES: You’re like, “We’re in college, I think I’ll sleep in.”
FAIRFAX: Yeah, “I’m trying to sleep right now.” But you know, that was her. Always focused and dedicated.
CORDES: By sophomore year, Coakley was openly predicting that her roommate would someday be the first black woman to be named to the Supreme Court.
KETANJI BROWN JACKSON: Thank you very much, Mr. President. I am truly humbled.
COAKLEY: That is really true. That is really true. I thought if there was ever an opportunity for someone that came from our background to ascend to those heights it would be her. It had to be her. She had the keen intelligence, the brilliance, the ability to bring people together.
CORDES: But believing it and seeing it happen are two different things.
TONY DOKOUPIL: President Biden has narrowed his list of potential Supreme Court nominees to one.
FAIRFAX: I just pulled over. I just sat in the car. I’m like sobbing hysterically, my hands are shaking. Immediately I call Nina, and Nina picks up and I just scream. We’re screaming like – “Oh, my God!”
SIMMONS: We just screamed, jumping up and down. My kids were like, “What’s wrong?! What’s wrong?!” I’m like “Ahhh!” Then I guess someone texted my daughter and she’s like, “Okay, I know why you’re screaming.”
CORDES: Now they call themselves her hype team, as she plows through meetings with dozens of senators.
COAKLEY: I’ve been sending her scriptures and prayers and, you know, songs that I know will inspire her and encourage her because this is a lot.
CORDES: Some moments are harder than others. How did you feel and how did she feel when you heard some people saying, “Well, President Biden established a quota and she’s just gonna be there to meet a quota”?
FAIRFAX: How I felt is that they don’t understand. They don’t understand that if there’s a barrier in place, you can’t ignore it.
What does it mean, her nomination, and hopefully confirmation? What does it mean? It means America, come on, yes. This is who we want to be. This is who we said we want to be.
CORDES: And there’s another first to think about here, too. If confirmed, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson would be the first former public defender to sit on the high court, meaning that for years she represented defendants who otherwise could not have afforded an attorney, a right enshrined in the Constitution. Gayle?
KING: 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.
