For Tuesday’s edition of The View, ABC brought on Democratic Senator Cory Booker (NJ) for the cackling coven to heap doting praise on and tee him up to attack Republicans for the questions they dared to ask during the Supreme Court confirmation hearings of nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson last week. Of course, there was no mention of the White House’s reported omission of Jackson’s history of light sentences for child porn offenders when handing her records over to the Senate.
Co-host Whoopi Goldberg was particularly excited to see Booker. “You were speaking for a lot of people who watched those hearings last week with that speech,” she touted. She then lamented “we heard a lot of craziness” coming from Republicans and that she “knew it was going to be odd but this was a little crazier.”
“What made this so insane to you,” she wanted to know.
Booker suggested Republican questions were insane because Jackson was just such “an unassailable candidate” and “perhaps one of the most qualified people ever to be put on the court[.]” “She is just a magnificent human being,” he declared.
And in a statement that also applied to conservative Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, though he didn’t seem to realize it, Booker opined about how people “can relate” to Jackson “in a sense to being in a room where you are overqualified to be in the room and still have people come at you with such toxic nonsense.”
“So, it was a powerful moment for me to witness her excellence, despite those folks who tried to pull her down,” Booker added.
Up next was co-host Sunny Hostin who needed to let Booker know “you made me cry the ugly cry” when he defended Jackson during the hearing. “You defended her. And it was just something to see. And in defending her, you mentioned how she reminded you of your mom, your cousins, your ancestors,” she lauded.
But Hostin ultimately had a bone to pick with Booker because she didn’t like how he wouldn’t overtly call Republicans racist in a CNN interview:
Now, you later said to CNN's Dana Bash that you didn't think racism was involved in the questioning she received from some of your Republican colleagues. But she was repeatedly interrupted, her credibility was questioned, she was asked about hidden agendas, and in particular, Senator Cruz asked her about Critical Race Theory. Even, I believe it was Senator Kennedy said she was articulate.
“Is it still your view that race had nothing to do with the way she was treated,” she pressed.
Booker defended himself by arguing that he didn’t say they weren’t racist, just that he didn’t want to give an answer. “No, that's not the conclusion I was drawing with Dana Bash at all. I think my point was I can't get into the heads of my colleagues, nor do I want to go down that odyssey,” he said.
He then proceeded to describe Republican questions as having “a complete lack of decency.” Although, he did note that he was talking about “some, not all of my Republican colleagues – not even the majority of them but some of them – was a complete lack of decency, a big lack of respect.”
This ridiculous praise and slanted questions were made possible because lucrative sponsorships from Crest and Ensure. Their contact information is linked.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
ABC’s The View
March 29, 2022
11:16:54 a.m. Eastern(…)
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Good morning, Senator Booker!
SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): Good morning. Good morning.
GOLDBERG: You were speaking for a lot of people who watched those hearings last week with that speech. We heard a lot of craziness coming from the other side. Like, I knew it was going to be odd but this was a little crazier. What made this so insane to you?
BOOKER: Well, the fact that she's such an unassailable candidate. She’s perhaps one of the most qualified people ever to be put on the court, having served at multiple levels of our federal judiciary from a Supreme Court clerk to a circuit court judge. She is just a magnificent human being.
And a lot of us can have that feeling, can relate in a sense to being in a room where you are overqualified to be in the room and still have people come at you with such toxic nonsense. So, it was a powerful moment for me to witness her excellence, despite those folks who tried to pull her down.
SUNNY HOSTIN: Uh, Senator, you know, you made me cry the ugly cry when – with your words that day. You defended her. And it was just something to see. And in defending her, you mentioned how she reminded you of your mom, your cousins, your ancestors.
Now, you later said to CNN's Dana Bash that you didn't think racism was involved in the questioning she received from some of your Republican colleagues. But she was repeatedly interrupted, her credibility was questioned, she was asked about hidden agendas, and in particular, Senator Cruz asked her about Critical Race Theory. Even, I believe it was Senator Kennedy said she was articulate. Is it still your view that race had nothing to do with the way she was treated?
BOOKER: No, that's not the conclusion I was drawing with Dana Bash at all. I think my point was I can't get into the heads of my colleagues, nor do I want to go down that odyssey.
What we saw on display, whatever language you want to put on it, was a complete lack of decency from some, not all of my Republican colleagues – not even the majority of them but some of them – was a complete lack of decency, a big lack of respect. And let's call it like it is.
We now know in just a clarity for all America to see that a Supreme Court justice of her import – excuse me a Supreme Court nominee of her import was treated with a way that not just disrespectful and ugly, but also in a way that for me violates – I don't care if you're a Republican or Democrat – all of our national sense of decency.
(…)
11:22:52 a.m. Eastern
TARA SETMAYER: So, speaking of a not proud moment, what's going on with Republicans and the January 6 committee. We saw that a federal judge ruled yesterday that former President Trump probably broke the law while attempting to illegally obstruct Congress.
[Crosstalk]
SETMAYER: But he's been ordered to hand over documents, and we've seen him stall before and evade. And I think there's been growing frustration with the Attorney General, Merrick Garland and the Department of Justice. Do you see any indication that this may spark something in the Department of Justice to get a move on it and get accountability here? What’s happening with DOJ?
BOOKER So, I think we're all waiting to see the final report of the January 6 committee. From the conversations I've had with Congresspeople they really believe there are a lot of very clear evidence of illegal behavior. And I think when that's presented to the public, you will see law enforcement authorities taking action.
The gravity of what happened; I was standing – I was in this building when it was under assault. It was perhaps one of the lowest points of my life, especially when we started leaving that and seeing police officers injured. Brian Sicknick, from New Jersey, died on that day. When I got back to my office, turned on the TV, and the first images I saw: The Confederate flag and then racist and anti-Semitic hate signs being unfurled in our nation's capital.
It was a seriously violent day, a seriously low point for American history. Let's investigate it and hold everyone accountable, because no one is above the law including the former President of the United States.
JOY BEHAR: Thank you.
(…)
