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Republicans likely can’t stop Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson from being confirmed to the Supreme Court, but the Republican National Committee (RNC) believes her confirmation is a boon for its Senate candidates this fall.
“Ketanji Brown Jackson has proven to be exactly what Joe Biden promised: a liberal, activist judge who will rubberstamp the far left’s political agenda,” RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “The RNC will ensure that Democrats up and down the ballot must answer the questions that Jackson couldn’t. From now to November, vulnerable Democrats will be held accountable for endorsing Jackson’s radical record.”
Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson testifies during her Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill on March 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
The RNC has already poured significant effort into messaging around Jackson’s confirmation, including posting dozens of clips online and doing copious media interviews. It’s even staged protests at the in-state offices of vulnerable Sens. Catherine Cortez-Masto, D-Nev., and Mark Kelly. D-Ariz.
In addition to a recent social media and surrogate push on Jackson in recent days, a RNC official said it’s likely phone bankers and canvassers will be given talking points referencing Jackson’s confirmation. Voters will also likely see clips from the Jackson hearings in digital ad buys, literature drops and more as November approaches, the official said.
“We saw someone who’s pro-abortion. We saw someone who touted critical race theory and who actually… helped oversee a school where critical race theory and its concepts are taught. Someone who’s soft on crime… soft on child pornography,” an RNC official told Fox News. “Someone who literally refuses to define what a woman is is a basic question that the average elementary school kid can answer.”
Ronna McDaniel, chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, speaks during the Republican Jewish Coalition Annual Leadership Meeting in Las Vegas, Nov. 6, 2021. (Bridget Bennett/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“They own all of those things that Jackson’s tied to,” the RNC official added.
That official was referencing, among other moments in Jackson’s hearing last week, an instance when Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., asked the nominee to define the word “woman.”
“I can’t,” Jackson told Blackburn. “Not in this context, I’m not a biologist.”
In another instance, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, pressed Jackson about the curriculum of a private school in Washington, D.C., that she serves at in a leadership role. He said the books were connected to critical race theory – including one by critical race theorist Ibram X. Kendi.
Democratic National Committee spokesman Ammar Moussa, meanwhile, said Republicans will “light money on fire” if they plan to attack Democrat candidates using the Jackson confirmation.
Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson arrives for the third day of her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill on March 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
“It’s been clear from the start that a number of Senate Republicans are more focused on peddling lies to serve their own partisan interests than they are in conducting a fair and respectful process. They’ve disrespected, berated, and thrown everything they can at Judge Jackson only to see their attacks fail,” Moussa said. “Judge Jackson is the most popular Supreme Court nominee since John Roberts was confirmed, and maintains support from everyone from conservative lawyers to the nation’s largest group of police officers.”
After last week’s marathon hearings, Jackson is inching closer to being confirmed. The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to take a vote on the nominee next Monday, setting up a possible final confirmation vote just days later.
GOWDY: HOW CONSTRUCTIVE WAS JUDGE KETANJI BROWN JACKSON’S CONFIRMATION HEARING IN THE SENATE?
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., has already said he will vote for Jackson. And it doesn’t appear that GOP attacks on Jackson had a significant effect on any other Democrats during her confirmation hearings.
A Fox News Poll taken between March 18 and 21, before Jackson’s confirmation hearings, showed that 56% of voters supported Jackson compared to 35% who said they opposed her.
But the RNC believes that even if Democrat senators weren’t swayed during Jackson’s hearings, voters will be in November after seeing what their Democrat senators voted for.
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“When you see a nominee who literally can’t say what a woman is… it really cuts to the chase for the average voter,” a RNC official said. “They think, why should that person be on the Supreme Court? And even more, why should my senator, why should a Democrat senator, vote for them?”