Shortly after President Biden’s left-wing Supreme Court nominee Ketanzi Brown Jackson finished his inaugural address during a Senate confirmation hearing Monday afternoon, broadcast networks praised his performance and began declaring him immune from Republican criticism. Surprised coverage surprised Jackson and advised the GOP “It’s not the mountains maybe they want to die.”
During a special coverage on NBC News, Knightley News anchor Lester Holt asked justice correspondent Pete Williams after jumping from Washington correspondent Yamiche Alcinder and leftist columnist Eugene Robinson: “… this nomination does not change … center of gravity, ideological gravity in the Supreme Court. That would change, do you think, how would Republicans go after that? Do they realize that this is not a mountain, maybe they want to die?
Williams agrees with that assessment: “Oh, I doubt it, Lester. The other thing is, they’re going to have a hard time coming up with something new. “ The reporter cited his previous confirmation hearing for the federal judiciary and dismissed any issues Republicans might raise: “So he’s gone through a lot of questions like this before … what hasn’t changed is his record. So if they’re going to ask him about the record, he’s been – it’s been asked before.
“Do you see any obstacles after what you heard today?” Noah O’Donnell, presenter of the evening news, was surprised by Jan Crawford, the chief legal correspondent, during a special CBS News coverage. Crawford replied that there was “no red flag” for Jackson, although the nominee had not yet been asked a question:
No, not now, and I can’t see any red flags, and I can’t see anything coming Based on my interviews with people I’ve talked to or about his record. I see three key areas that Republicans will be focusing on tomorrow, they are starting to unveil it today. They will try to understand his judicial philosophy, in contrast to the picture we have just seen to show that he thinks he will be a kind of judicial extremist. I think that’s going to be pretty hard for them.
During the special coverage of ABC News, World news tonight Anchor David Muir brought in senior national correspondent Terry Moran for analysis. Like his NBC and CBS colleagues, Moran immediately tried to vaccinate Jackson from any examination of his record:
I too was impressed by that full-hearted voice of American patriotism at the beginning of his remarks., Just as he did when President Biden nominated him. This is a man who knows, obviously, has lived through the biggest crisis in our country’s history, the crisis of racism, and still loves the country openly. I think that’s clearly one of the reasons that President Biden didn’t just elect him, however It would be really hard for Republicans to do much harm to such a candidate, such a nominated candidate…. and at this point, where he went ahead and said, “Here I am, an American, a black woman, and I am ready for this job.” It was a very strong performance, no question about it.
As far as the leftist media is concerned, there is no point in even holding a Senate hearing because they have already decided that it is not worth listening to any criticism of Jackson.
Live exclusive network coverage did not feature any commercial breaks.
Here is a transcript of the March 21 NBC News special report:
3:38 PM ET
(…)
Lester Holt: Here I am again with Eugene Robinson, a political analyst at NBC News. Eugene, let me know what you think of her opening remarks.
Eugene Robinson: Well, you know, today was that day – not the front and back, it was the opening statement, and so for me it was the day to take a kind of wide lens, to hear a black woman sitting in that chair was emotional for me. I thought – I thought of my mother, I thought of my mother-in-law. My mother, who was a college librarian. My mother-in-law was a researcher at the National Institutes of Health. They both deal with their confidence as they choose to embark on their play activities.
(…)
3:40 PM ET
Holt: Let me ask Yamiche Alexander, the feeling of history that Eugene has spoken of, how it will go through this activity. Or do we just not pay attention when you tell them something to do?
Yamiche Alicender: I think it will carry. It took two hundred and thirty-three years to arrive at this moment, and I was surprised that he told his parents to name him “Ketanji”. And while talking to her friends, including Lisa Fairfax, who introduced her, I talked to them over the weekend, and they said Ketanji Brown Jackson would make sure people could say her name, even when she was a freshman in college, because those people Wanted her parents to understand the significance of her decision to keep this African name.
(…)
3:43 PM ET
Holt: I want to go back to Pete Williams, the justice correspondent for NBC News. Pete, as you and others have mentioned, does not change this nomination – presumably the center of gravity in the Supreme Court, the ideological gravity. That would change, do you think, how would Republicans go after that? Will they hold on and realize that this is not a mountain maybe they want to die?
Pete Williams: Oh, I doubt it, Lester. The other thing is they will have a hard time coming up with something new. Remember, he went through this only eight months ago when he was nominated for the Court of Appeal. So he has gone through a lot of questions before about his eight-year decision as a judge in Washington. Granted now, the Supreme Court’s confirmation hearing is always different, but what hasn’t changed is its record. So if they’re going to ask him about the record, he’s got it – it’s been answered before.
For example, it is expected that they will ask him about his time as a public defender, when he represented the Guantanamo Bay detainee. I thought it was interesting, Lester, that he introduced himself today to his brother who served in the army because when asked about this during the confirmation hearing of his appeal, he said, yes, he represented a Gitmo prisoner but a public defender. The position he had to take did not necessarily represent his personal opinion, and he did mention the fact that his brother was serving in the army at the time.
(…)