President Biden nominated Adeel Mangi for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals 3rd Circuit -- the level just below the Supreme Court. But Senators Joe Manchin and Catherine Cortez Masto have announced they will not support him, and in a 51-49 Senate, it looks bad.
On Saturday morning's The Weekend show on MSNBC, they came rushing to Mangi's defense. They ran a clip of Sen. Cory Booker ranting "No matter what happens to his nomination, this is [voice breaks] a great American who should be proud of his work!"
Co-anchor Symone Sanders-Townsend decried "politics is fueling a lot of the vitriol and misinformation against this nominee." MSNBC.com writer Hayes Brown said it's just "racism against a Muslim candidate."
HAYES BROWN: I mean, absolutely. Well, quickly, I just want to say that I love when Cory Booker gets on the pulpit. I love when he is on a mission to try to convince his colleagues about what right is. He does it amazingly.
But yeah, this is a matter of politics. The fact that there any Democrats that are unwilling to support this nominee is about being afraid, really. Afraid of the sort of backlash that, oh, you supported this candidate for xyz when none of the rumors and vitriol that are being spread are actually true.
It's really just a matter of racism against a Muslim candidate that we are seeing. And that is something Senator Booker is standing up against. And I think all Democrats in the Senate should be willing to stand up against.
Neither Brown, nor Sanders-Townsend cited any facts in an attempt to refute the allegations against Mangi. Fortunately, Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) has laid out, chapter and verse, the case against Biden's nominee. The full record is here, but among the lowlights
-- Mangi is on the advisory board of the Alliance of Families for Justice. "One of the Alliance’s founders was convicted of murdering police officers in cold blood. . . . Now the Alliance [of] Families for Justice—on whose board Mr. Mangi [sat]—advocates for the release of people who kill cops.”
-- Mangi also served on the advisory board of the Center for Security, Race and Rights. On the 20th anniversary of 9/11, the group held an event entitled: "Whose narrative? 20 years since 9/11." The purpose of the event was to blame America for 9/1
The director of the Center says she's "in awe" of the Palestinian's struggle against Israel and "Israeli settler colonialism." Could Mangi have been honestly unaware of the director's views? After all, she personally recruited him to serve on the advisory board.
-- And when Sen. Tom Cotton [R-AR] asked Mangi whether Israeli Jews are "colonial settlers," Mangi made the lamest dodge, claiming he "didn't feel qualified to opine on that because it's not a region whose history I've studied, or where I'm from."
Riight.
Q. Mr. Mangi, is it raining?
A. Hey, who do you think I am—Jim Cantore?
So Democrats are afraid for their careers, of the "backlash"? Cortez Masto is on the ballot this fall. But is Brown aware that, four months ago, Joe Manchin, the other Democrat opposed, announced that he wouldn't be running for re-election? If there's one thing Manchin doesn't have to worry about, it's backlash!
Brown and Sanders-Townsend claimed that "politics" were behind the rejection of Mangi. Of course, politics had nothing to do with the Democrats' shameful attacks on Brett Kavanaugh. And going back to 1991, there was a certain Democrat chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee who angrily confronted Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas. No politics there!
Note: MSNBC describes Brown's job as "help[ing] frame the news of the day for readers." Now you've got us afraid!
Here's the transcript.
MSNBC
The Weekend
3/23/34
8:23 am EDTSYMONE SANDERS-TOWNSEND: Hayes, I want to play Senator Cory Booker last night or this morning, however you'd like to parse it.
The Biden administration has confirmed a record number of judges with diverse backgrounds and a number of firsts. And one of the firsts, Adeel Mangi, who would have been the first Muslim American on a federal appeals, on this particular federal appeals court, his nomination was imperilled because of a number of attacks. And this is Sen. Booker in defense of him, but I would also argue, celebration.
CORY BOOKER: No matter what happens to his nomination, this is [voice breaks] a great American who should be proud of his work. We should celebrate him whether we vote for him or not. We should cherish a moment like this that makes history.
SANDERS-TOWNSEND: Hayes, I have to wonder if the nomination of this particular nominee would be in danger if it were not an election year, and if were not so many things happening across the pond, if you will, particularly in the Middle East when it comes to the war between Israel and Hamas. And if politics is fueling a lot of the vitriol and misinformation against this nominee.
HAYES BROWN: I mean, absolutely. Well, quickly, I just want to say that I love when Cory Booker gets on the pulpit. I love when he is on a mission to try to convince his colleagues about what right is. He does it amazingly.
But yeah, this is a matter of politics. The fact that there any Democrats that are unwilling to support this nominee is about being afraid, really. Afraid of the sort of backlash that, oh, you supported this candidate for xyz when none of the rumors and vitriol that are being spread are actually true.
It's really just a matter of racism against a Muslim candidate that we are seeing. And that is something Senator Booker is standing up against. And I think all Democrats in the Senate should be willing to stand up against.
SANDERS-TOWNSEND: I should have noted, it is two Democrats, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada and, uh, West Virginia's senator who have noted they are not supporting the nomination.
