On his Tuesday night show, left-wing CNN anchor Don Lemon wondered what is really behind Republican criticism of President Biden's pledge to only consider black women for his upcoming Supreme Court appointee. According to network contributor Kirsten Powers, the absurd answer is that Republicans are of the attitude that the Supreme Court exists for white men only.
After running through the criticisms offered up by several Republican senators, Lemon asked Powers: "What is it, what is this really about? I mean, it's political opportunism. It's riling up the base. What's going on?"
Powers agreed that firing up the base is part of the explanation, "But I think it's also telling us something about them. If you're a person who hears 'I'm going to nominate a black woman to the Supreme Court' and the first thing you think of is this is not going to be the most qualified person available, you, you have a problem. Right?"
Taking her claim a step further, Powers also ranted that whoever Biden ends up nominating will actually be more qualified than the typical nominee:
I would go a step further and say if it's a black woman she's not only going to be qualified, she's going to be more qualified. Because in order for a black woman to get to, to the place that any of his nominees have gotten, potential nominees have gotten to, requires that they not be just as good as the white men. It, it requires them to be better.
Despite the fact that two of the six conservative justices are not white men, Powers followed up by declaring:
I think there is an attitude here that this is a Court that really is supposed to be for white men. And it was for a long time. And even if you look at the comments that Senator Wicker made about Sonia Sotomayor saying basically that whoever Biden's going to choose is going to be like her, like there's something uniquely wrong with her. Right? What sets her apart from the other people who are on the Court? And it's the fact that she's not white.
Even leftist Harvard Law professor Laurence Tribe harshly criticized Sotomayor's appointment, but naturally Powers forgot about that. Specifically calling out the non-white Ted Cruz, she also wondered:
And by the way, can you find a single clip of Ted, Ted Cruz complaining about racism against a black person? Because the only time I ever hear him talk about it is about this alleged like anti-white racism. So they pretend like they care so much about racism, but where are they for Black Lives Matter? Where are they when black men are being gunned down in the street? They're nowhere. But he's literally talking about white people being discriminated against? It's insane.
Why does Powers think critics only mean white people? And to answer her challenge, here is a video of Ted Cruz defending a black person -- fellow Republican Senator Tim Scott -- from racist attacks hurled by the left.
This segment was sponsored by Safelite.
Here is a transcript of the February 1 show:
CNN Don Lemon Tonight
2/1/2022
10:15 PM
DON LEMON: Kirsten, how do I say this? You know, people don't get upset -- people say that this is not a -- an appointment to the Supreme Court is not -- should not be politicized. When the right picks people based on their conservatism, on their party. The left picks people based on their liberalism, on their party. It is inherently a political process. And then you have someone like Ted Cruz, who's calling Biden's pledge offensive and insulting. You have Senator Roger Wicker who's saying that Biden's nominee was a beneficiary of affirmative action. Mike Rounds says that it hurts the nominee's credibility. Senator Josh Hawley says that it's a mistake to basically say that you have a quota. What is it, what is this really about? I mean, it's political opportunism.
KIRSTEN POWERS: Well, well. I mean, what it’s really about.
LEMON: It's riling up the base. What's going on?
POWERS: It’s, well, it is riling up their base. But I think it's also telling us something about them. If you're a person who hears “I'm going to nominate a black woman to the Supreme Court” and the first thing you think of is this is not going to be the most qualified person available, you, you have a problem. Right? There's something wrong with the way you see the world. Because those two things are not in contradiction. It doesn't, you know, it’s, it goes without saying that the person's going to be qualified. It's the Supreme Court. I would go a step further and say if it's a black woman she's not only going to be qualified, she's going to be more qualified. Because in order for a black woman to get to, to the place that any of his nominees have gotten, potential nominees have gotten to, requires that they not be just as good as the white men. It, it requires them to be better. So something is wrong if you hear these words and you automatically assume that it's not going to be the most qualified person. Why, what you're essentially saying is “I don't believe that there is a black woman in this country that's qualified to be on the Supreme Court.”
LEMON: There's always a first, though, Kirsten. There's a first Jewish justice, Brandeis, Louis Brandeis. The first black justice, Thurgood Marshall. The first woman, Sandra day O'Connor.
POWERS: Yeah.
LEMON: The first Italian-American, Antonin Scalia. And yet there is something clearly triggering about the first black woman to be on the Court.
POWERS: Well, I think, look— I think there is an attitude here that this is a Court that really is supposed to be for white men. And it was for a long time. And even if you look at the comments that Senator Wicker made about Justice Sotomayor, saying basically that whoever Biden's going to choose is going to be like her, like there's something uniquely wrong with her. Right? What sets her apart from the other people who are on the Court? And it's the fact that she's not white. Or that she's not -- you know, she, she is, she’s Hispanic. And so I think that, that they're clearly showing us what they believe. And by the way, can you find a single clip of Ted, Ted Cruz complaining about racism against a black person? Because the only time I ever hear him talk about it is about this alleged like anti-white racism. So they pretend like they care so much about racism, but where are they for Black Lives Matter? Where are they when black men are being gunned down in the street? They're nowhere. But he's literally talking about white people being discriminated against? It's insane.
