Lindsey Graham just tried to justify voting against Ketanji Brown Jackson. It did not go well for him
Less than an hour after the United States Senate confirmed Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first Black woman to serve as an associate justice of the Supreme Court, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) authored a tweet explaining why he voted in the negative.
"My ‘no’ vote was based upon Judge Jackson’s record of judicial activism, flawed sentencing methodology regarding child pornography cases, and a belief that she will not be deterred by the plain meaning of the law when it comes to liberal causes," wrote on Thursday afternoon.
My \u2018no\u2019 vote was based upon Judge Jackson\u2019s record of judicial activism, flawed sentencing methodology regarding child pornography cases, and a belief that she will not be deterred by the plain meaning of the law when it comes to liberal causes.— Lindsey Graham (@Lindsey Graham) 1649356476
Upon her nomination by President Joe Biden in February to replace retiring Associate Justice Stephen Breyer, Jackson faced multiple rounds of grilling by Senate Republicans, including Graham, who stormed out of one hearing because he was displeased with Jackson's responses.
The GOP's lines of questioning had, for the most part, little to do with her unprecedented qualifications to sit on the nation's highest bench. Instead, GOP lawmakers nitpicked her record as an appellate court judge and defense attorney and put her perceived political affiliations under a microscope with an exceptionally partisan – and racially sculpted – lens.
Graham, however, made no qualms about his opposition to Jackson's nomination. Last week, he admitted that if Republicans had control of the Senate, Jackson would never even have gotten a hearing.
"If we get back the Senate, and we're in charge of this body, and there's judicial openings, we will talk to our colleagues on the other side," Graham said during a Judiciary Committee hearing. "But if we were in charge, she would not have been before this Committee."
He added that "you would've had somebody more moderate than this" if there were a Republican in the Oval Office.
That, as the public collectively witnessed under former President Donald Trump, is completely untrue.
Trump's three nominees – including his first whom the Senate stole from his predecessor, Barack Obama – were primarily selected by Trump because of their opposition to abortion (this was one of his campaign promises in 2016). None of them had anywhere near Jackson's qualifications and experience. But the Republican-dominated Senate confirmed Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett – all of whom had associations with and the backing of extreme right-wing organizations – to the Supreme Court anyway.
You've seen this 1,000's of times but let's review it again...pic.twitter.com/DVOcUSJKO1— Chuxter26 (@Chuxter26) 1649357817
The GOP only nominates the best !pic.twitter.com/ePrWh9qGDv— R. Barnett (@R. Barnett) 1649357428
With these facts and recent history in mind, the Twitterverse exploded at Graham for what it deemed to be obvious.
Your "no" vote was not based on any of that.pic.twitter.com/zlfwFsVxgF— \ud83d\ude3a\ud83c\udf0a\ud83d\ude3e Willow \ud83d\ude3e\ud83c\udf0a\ud83d\ude3a (@\ud83d\ude3a\ud83c\udf0a\ud83d\ude3e Willow \ud83d\ude3e\ud83c\udf0a\ud83d\ude3a) 1649360375
YOUR belief. You have no idea of what appeals she may rule on. \nYou allowed Gorsuch, Kavanaugh & Barrett to be seated. You only knew they were conservative. \nYOU knew how the Trumpers would decide.— Ann - just vote to end this madness (@Ann - just vote to end this madness) 1649357462
More like the fact that she was nominated by the Democrats. Voters have to understand - if she was the same person, but had been nominated by a Republican president - his vote would have been "Yes".— SuzyQL (Not *that* Q) \ud83c\udf3b\ud83d\udd4a (@SuzyQL (Not *that* Q) \ud83c\udf3b\ud83d\udd4a) 1649367456
The bipartisan endorsements of basically everyone debunks your comments. \n\nYou didn\u2019t vote for her because of politics, just own it.— David Yankovich (@David Yankovich) 1649361610
Your no vote was because she is a strong Black woman— mike (@mike) 1649356611
***Looks around for anyone interested in why Lindsey Graham does anything.https://twitter.com/lindseygrahamsc/status/1512136778139979785\u00a0\u2026— PoliticOhMyGawd (@PoliticOhMyGawd) 1649356954
Graham's excuses also fell apart under the weight of his own history:
You voted her to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit just last year saying you were convinced that "Judge Jackson will not be deterred by the plain meaning of the law when it comes to liberal causes,\u201d https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/31/us/politics/lindsey-graham-ketanji-brown-jackson.html\u00a0\u2026. Please stop gaslighting us.— Spirit, PhD, LPC, NCC, CPCS (@Spirit, PhD, LPC, NCC, CPCS) 1649366496
So, I'd like you to revisit this vote for her and explain which vote was a mistake.pic.twitter.com/LWlzI13UvF— SSton (@SSton) 1649356771
Yet you voted for her like 3 times before? You could have just said you didn't want a Democratically appointed black woman on the Supreme Court and called it a day...— Dr. Brad - Amateur Brain Surgeon (@Dr. Brad - Amateur Brain Surgeon) 1649367742
So either he is lying now or didn\u2019t do his job before. Most likely both.— Justice Jackson! \ud83c\udf89 (@Justice Jackson! \ud83c\udf89) 1649368092
Garbage, her answers threw you into a hissy fit and you stormed out of the hearing.\n\nShe's the same Judge that you voted to confirm before.— Geo Steve (@Geo Steve) 1649366724
pic.twitter.com/nu6XoAd2UZ— \ud83e\udd85Mark Hartig\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@\ud83e\udd85Mark Hartig\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1649356771
