Late night hosts contrast Ketanji Brown Jackson's high approval, 'hissy-fitting' from 3 GOP senators
The third day of confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson "was another day of grandstanding and speechmaking and hissy-fittting in the Senate," Jimmy Kimmel said on Wednesday's Kimmel Live. "Fifty-eight percent of Americans support Judge Jackson's appointment to the Supreme Court. It is the most support a Jackson has had since Thriller came out."
Jackson "has said that the fact that she was even nominated shows how far we've come as a country, and so some of the Republican senators on the committee have been hard at work to show how far we haven't," Kimmel said. Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) in particular have been "desperately trying to get a soundbite that might make it onto Fox News. Unfortunately for them, they made it here instead."
Kimmel showed the deflation of Hawley's attempt to paint Jackson as soft on child pornography, and "of course Cancun Cruz had to get in on the action," but "no Republican has been more hot and bothered than Lindsey Graham," who "picked up right where Hawley left off," only with a weird example, Kimmel said. "How sexually defective do you have to be, listening to Lindsey Graham's voice and watching pornography at the same time?"
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
It's simple: "Sex offenders deserve the harshest punishment possible — unless they used to host a Fox News show, in which case it's cancel culture!" The Daily Show's Desi Lydic said, FOXsplaining the GOP's argument.
Jackson has "done so well that Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin is 'hopeful' her confirmation will receive at least one Republican vote," James Corden said on The Late Late Show. "This is how low the United States government has fallen: We've gone from 'Let's put a man on the moon within the decade' to 'Maybe someday we can get at least one Republican to vote for a qualified woman.'"
"Judge Jackson already has a record approval rating among Americans for a Supreme Court nominee," Jimmy Fallon said on The Tonight Show. "Right now, Biden's like, 'Hey, I nominated you, it's only fair that we split that approval rating.'"
Meanwhile, "Vladimir Putin is still planning to attend the G20 summit with other world leaders in Bali this fall, which explains this year's theme: Awkward," Fallon joked. "Seriously, what is he doing? That's like getting kicked out of high school and then showing up for the reunion."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Starbucks workers are planning their ‘biggest strike’ everThe Explainer The union said 92% of its members voted to strike
-
‘These wouldn’t be playgrounds for billionaires’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
The 5 best nuclear war movies of all timeThe Week Recommends ‘A House of Dynamite’ reanimates a dormant cinematic genre for our new age of atomic insecurity
-
Trump tariffs face stiff scrutiny at Supreme CourtSpeed Read Even some of the Court’s conservative justices appeared skeptical
-
Has Zohran Mamdani shown the Democrats how to win again?Today’s Big Question New York City mayoral election touted as victory for left-wing populists but moderate centrist wins elsewhere present more complex path for Democratic Party
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Voting Rights Act: SCOTUS’s pivotal decisionFeature A Supreme Court ruling against the Voting Rights Act could allow Republicans to redraw districts and solidify control of the House
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
