The liberal media were all hands on deck Friday to defend President Biden’s new Super Court nominee, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson from any criticism whatsoever. That was certainly the case during The View when ABC co-host Sunny Hostin claimed that criticism was actually “attacks” and, since they come from the right, they were “based on race, not on qualifications.”
“But her qualifications run assailable,” Hostin indignantly declared. “She is more qualified, I dare say, than many of the justices that are now seated on the court. She did go to Harvard, undergrad. She went to Harvard Law School.”
Hostin then boasted about Brown’s service as a federal public defender, noting, “She's the first federal public defender that would ever be seated on the Supreme Court.”
“I can tell you as a federal prosecutor, the defender service is who we argued against. They are the toughest. They are brilliant. They are generally just spot on, and we need that kind of perspective on this court,” she touted.
She then pivoted to suggesting any criticism of Brown or her history was because the person doing it was racist:
And the fact of the matter is that it's very difficult for a woman of color to get to where she is without being exceptional. We do exist, but there's no question in my mind that she is qualified, and the attacks that are going to come from the right are based on race, not on qualifications.
The conversation went in this direction after co-host Joy Behar whined about Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) saying Biden had capitulated to the “radical left” again.
Co-host Ana Navarro defended Graham and held out hope that he would support Brown’s confirmation, which didn’t sit well with Hostin. “Me and my island are, you know, there's room for Lindsey if he does the right thing on this,” Navarro told her.
Navarro also suggested she could set her sights on Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio. After noting that Brown is from Miami, she hinted she might get singer “Pitbull to call him. ‘Oh, yeah, Papi.’”
“Well, Lindsey is tweeting all sorts of crazy things, so I’m not going to count on him. But they only need 51 votes,” Hostin shot back against Navarro’s optimism for Graham. She also suggested Graham’s “lips are still surgically attached to Trump's butt” and that’s why he’s now criticizing Biden for picking Brown after previously voting for her.
Former View co-host (returning as a guest host) Meredith Vieira questioned Hostin by wondering is Graham was “just saying what he thinks people want to hear” but intended to support her anyway. Hostin didn’t buy it, chiding him as “such a wild card at this point I don't think he can be counted on. I don't think he can be trusted.”
The View’s defense of President Biden’s SCOTUS nominee was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Olay and Advil. The complete post is on NewsBusters.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
ABC’s The View
February 25, 2022
11:15:46 a.m. EasternJOY BEHAR: So, right before the show, President Biden made good on his promise to nominate the first black female Supreme Court justice. Because the White House released a statement that he has chosen Ketanji Brown Jackson, which we've kind of predicted, right?
So there are already rumblings from the right, Lindsey Graham tweeted, this “means the radical left” quote-unquote “has won President Biden again.”
[Crosstalk]
Wait a minute. He confirmed her for the D.C. circuit court. So what changed? That was, like, two years ago, I think. What changed?
[Crosstalk]
ANA NAVARRO: Listen. I haven't given up on Lindsey yesterday because Lindsey --
SUNNY HOSTIN: You may be the only one.
NAVARRO: Me and my island are, you know, there's room for Lindsey if he does the right thing on this.
Listen, Lindsey voted for Sonia Sotomayor when many other Republicans didn't. Lindsey voted for Judge Brown when many other Republicans -- only Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski joined him. So it was a bipartisan vote. And Lindsey has talked in the past about how representation matters and he thinks the Supreme Court should be representative.
This is the first time in its 233-year history when there's going to be a black woman, and so if Lindsey really believes what he said, representation matters, then he should put her through the strictest scrutiny, ask her the relevant questions, see if she has the qualifications and judicial temperament, and if she does, get off his partisan -- fence, and vote to confirm her.
And, by the way, she's from Miami, and so Marco Rubio -- I think I’m going to get Pitbull to call him. “Oh, yeah, Papi.”
[Laughter]
But I just want to say one last thing. The last reason representation matters is – I was reading today, she graduated from Palmetto Senior High, and she told her high school councilor she wanted to go to Harvard. And the high school counselor told her, “No, you shouldn't set your sights that high.” She went on to Harvard and graduated magna cum Laude.
BEHAR: Good for her.
NAVARRO: And she's getting nominated, and that's why representation matters. So when a little black girl or brown girl goes and asks her high school counselor, they don't get told, don't set your sights so high.
HOSTIN: And that’s – Well, Lindsey is tweeting all sorts of crazy things, so I’m not going to count on him. But they only need 51 votes. And so, I think she will certainly --
BEHAR: But do you have any idea why he suddenly switched and said “radical left?”
HOSTIN: Well, because of Trump. His butt – His lips are still surgically attached to Trump's butt.
[Crosstalk]
MEREDITH VIEIRA: But does that mean he doesn’t [inaudible] that he will vote for her? That he’s just saying what he thinks people want to hear?
HOSTIN: I think he’s such a wild card at this point I don't think he can be counted on. I don't think he can be trusted.
But her qualifications run assailable. She is more qualified, I dare say, than many of the justices that are now seated on the court. She did go to Harvard, undergrad. She went to Harvard Law School. She's the first federal public defender that would ever be seated on the Supreme Court.
I can tell you as a federal prosecutor, the defender service is who we argued against. They are the toughest. They are brilliant. They are generally just spot on, and we need that kind of perspective on this court.
And the fact of the matter is that it's very difficult for a woman of color to get to where she is without being exceptional. We do exist, but there's no question in my mind that she is qualified, and the attacks that are going to come from the right are based on race, not on qualifications.
BEHAR: It says here, not since Thurgood Marshall has a justice has such extensive experience representing criminal defendants.
HOSTIN: Nobody. And we need that perspective.
(…)
