During a break in the second day of Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday, CBS News special coverage ridiculously claimed that the left-wing Supreme Court nominee “sounded almost conservative” when he answered questions from lawmakers. In later discussions, the Ukrainian war raised concerns about being a “scatterbrain” from Jackson’s “historic moment.”
Analyzing his hearing so far, at 10:00 ET, Chief Legal Correspondent Jan Crawford told anchor Gayle King: “… one thing I thought was incredibly interesting, at times he almost sounded conservative. I mean, he almost respects the conservative approach and interpretation of the constitution.” He emphasized some of Jackson’s reactions: “You look at the text, you look at the original understanding, you don’t consider international law at all.”
Crawford then at least tried to rein in his commentary – while still fascinated by Jackson’s performance:
No one thinks he’s going to be conservative justice. Based on his record, he will be a liberal judge in that Supreme Court. But his willingness to accept the conservative judicial system was interesting to me, It shows how that has really penetrated consciousness. And also that he will hear that argument in the Supreme Court. It is a very important quality for a justice, to be able to hear and to hear and to exchange.
During a special coverage of the hearing on NBC at 11:00 a.m. ET, left-wing political analyst Eugene Robinson similarly tried to argue that Jackson was somehow reaching out to the Conservatives:
He repeatedly referred to the word “text.” Which seemed interesting to me. As a message to conservatives who believe in textualism or originality or whatever – He mentioned, you know, what was the purpose of the founders? And I think he’s making it clear that he’s not a judge who believes that the Constitution is what we think it is, you know, right now. That’s what it is.
He then summed up his idea of so-called judicial restraint: “In a way, it seemed to me that he was saying, ‘I am more Cagan than Sotomayor.'”
The leftist media has a long track record of ridiculously claiming that Liberal Supreme Court nominees are actually “moderate” or even “conservative”, as Geoff Dickens, director of Newsbusters Media Analysis, recently documented. Of course whenever a Republican president nominates a lawyer in the high court, they are immediately reprimanded by the same press on the far right.
After concluding talks with King Crawford on Tuesday, he returned to CBS White House correspondent Ed O’Keefe for the administration’s response to the hearing. Referring to President Biden’s upcoming foreign trip to the NATO Summit on the Emergency War in Ukraine, King described the horrific conflict as a “disruption” for the Commander-in-Chief:
Ed, we know the president is going to Brussels tomorrow for a NATO summit. How scattered is the war in Ukraine for this historic moment? And do you think any of these hearings are watching now before he leaves?
O’Keefe assured him that Biden was “asking for regular updates on the status of today’s hearing,” “keenly interested” and “will keep a close eye on today.” Hopefully the biggest international crisis since World War II won’t keep Biden too busy.
There was no special coverage on CBS and NBC.
Here is a transcript of the March 22 discussion on CBS:
10:12 AM ET
(…)
Gayle King: Our chief legal correspondent, Jan Crawford, has been covering the Supreme Court for decades. Good morning to you. What is your observation from the evidence we have heard so far?
JAN CRAWFORD: Well, what a Nicole pickup [Killion] And as for the sex offender, I mean, Senator Durbin used his full 30 minutes to try to deny all the concerns that Republicans expressed yesterday about their record, not only his punishment for sex offenders but also his judicial philosophy. , His question – his views on court packing, his work on the sentencing commission, and his attempts to omit some of the mandatory minimum sentences he made while serving on that commission.
As the day progresses, everyone is giving him a chance to make his position known before he gets a really tough question from the Republicans. And these questions – we’ve heard from Republican Senator Grassley – are getting more intense as these junior Republican senators get on the committee.
I thought he used the watch very effectively, and that’s something that now Chief Justice John Roberts did at his hearing. The watch is your friend, isn’t it? And so we have seen him talk about lawsuits and laws in the true sense of the word and explain his arguments. He did it very effectively in this inaugural round of questions.
And then finally, Gayle, the one thing I thought, was incredibly interesting, sometimes he almost sounded conservative. I mean, he almost respects the conservative approach and interpretation of the constitution. You look at the text, you look at the original understanding, you don’t really consider international law at all. He says he can leave with his former boss, Justice Stephen Brayer.
No one thinks he’s going to be conservative justice. Based on his record, he will be a liberal judge in that Supreme Court. But I find his willingness to acknowledge the conservative judicial system interesting, it shows how it has really penetrated consciousness. And also that he will hear that argument in the Supreme Court. It is a very important quality for a justice, to be able to hear and to hear and to exchange.
KING: Well, it seems, honey, so far, so good for the judge.
(…)
10:15 AM ET
King: Let’s check in with Ed O’Keefe now, he’s at the White House. Ed, we know the president is going to Brussels tomorrow for a NATO summit. How scattered is the war in Ukraine for this historic moment? And do you think any of these hearings are watching now before he leaves?
ED O’KEEFE: Well, Gayle, we realized that a while ago, when White House Press Secretary Jane Sackie tweeted that she was pleased with him – with Judge Jackson’s opening remarks yesterday, thanking those who introduced him, And says he is asking for regular updates on the status of the hearing. There is nothing public in the President’s note schedule and so it is believed to be part of a day where he is preparing for a trip to Europe tomorrow.
However, as the former chairman of the Judicial Committee, who himself conducted the confirmation hearing, he is deeply interested in it and we hope that he will keep a close eye on it today. The White House is clearly satisfied with how one day went, quite satisfied with how things are going so far.
As Jan said, Judge Jackson used the watch to his advantage, given some early Republicans had the opportunity to refute the argument early on, they believe it is a good sign because it is moving toward inevitable confirmation.
(…)