Sen. Cory Booker Speaks About His Impassioned Speech Defending Ketanji Brown Jackson
Next week, the voting procedures for Ketanji Brown Jackson to become the first African American Supreme Court judge will begin. With Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) stating she will be a “yes” vote, the nomination is locked up. Many people still remember the confirmation hearings where many unfounded accusations and attacks were levied at Jackson.
Jackson handled these with grace and intelligence, but that doesn’t make the comments less awful. One of the best moments of the hearings came from Sen. Cory Booker’s (D-NJ) speech in defense of Jackson, declaring that “nobody was going to steal her joy” and stating how important this moment was–moving Jackson to tears.
Earlier this week, Sen. Booker (D-NJ) called for a change in ethic rules regarding the Supreme Court about recusal. As reported by Huffington Post, at a roundtable of Democratic senators Wednesday, Booker spoke about his speech–” explaining that his “different lived experience” put him in a position to speak to the frustrations many were feeling during last week’s hearings.”
“Clearly, I have a different lived experience than a lot of my colleagues and was able to speak to the heart of what a lot of folks who were feeling that,” he said. “I’m grateful that Sen. [Chuck] Schumer, Sen. [Dick] Durbin put me in a position to be in that moment. But make no mistake, we are an amazing team on the Judiciary Committee.”
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Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) thought the attacks were “disgusting.”
“I cannot believe the visceral reaction by some Republicans on that committee to assertive women of color. They just can’t handle it. And if you watch what they do to these women, it’s disgusting,” he said.
With Sen. Collins stating she will vote for Jackson, another potential outlier is Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) thinks other Republican Senators will vote yes also.
“I believe that we’re gonna get additional Republicans, but I can’t tell you which ones right now, though. It’s a very small number,” she told reporters Wednesday. “We want more, and we’re not going to be satisfied at one.”