Booker calls out ‘the most outrageous of attacks’ during Jackson’s confirmation hearings

• Sen. Cory Booker said he was emotional during Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation hearings last week.
• He said she faced the “most outrageous of attacks” during questioning. 
• “She is shattering a glass ceiling,” Booker said on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday. 

Sen. Cory Booker said he was emotional during Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation hearings last week as she faced”the most outrageous of attacks.”

“She was bringing me a lot of emotion during the whole hearing. I mean, she, under sort of the most outrageous of attacks, she was showing who she is,” Booker on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. “She showed up and told America how qualified she is, how special she is, what kind of endurance, grit, and grace she showed.”

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During the hearings, Jackson was she was repeatedly interrupted while she speaking, met with claims from GOP senators that she was soft on child pornography offenders, and aggressively grilled for her take on culture war issues, including critical race theory, school choice, and affirmative action.

“And so by the time it got to me after three Republicans in a row who were really over the top, the energy in that room, I just wanted to reaffirm the truth of the matter that I think most Americans know, which is how special this person is, and bring our attention back to how incredibly special this moment is in America,” the New Jersey senator said. 

Jackson was captured wiping her tears as Booker highlighted the historic feat of her being the first Black woman nominated for the highest court in the land, after being pressed about her record by Republican senators. 

“You did not get there because of some left-wing agenda. You didn’t get here because of some ‘dark money’ groups,” Booker told Jackson. “You got here how every Black woman in America who’s gotten anywhere has done, by being, like Ginger Rogers said, ‘I did everything Fred Astaire did but backwards in heels.'”

Booker emphasized how the majority of justices who have served on the Supreme court have been white men. He said on Sunday that Jackson “is shattering a glass ceiling, and doing it because she is an extraordinarily qualified human being.”