Lindsey Graham dares Democrats to explain why Neil Gorsuch is 'not qualified'

(Image credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

published 20 March 2017

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Monday dared his Democratic counterparts to put partisanship aside during the confirmation hearings for President Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch. "The issue for me is I'm waiting to hear somebody over there tell me why you're not qualified for the job that you're seeking," Graham said, lamenting that in recent years senators from both parties have taken to "politicizing the selection process."

Graham cited the fact that he voted to confirm Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan — both nominated by former President Barack Obama — as evidence that confirmation hearings should be about qualifications, not judicial preferences. "From my point of view, you're every bit as qualified as [Justices] Sotomayor and Kagan. I think you're just as good a man as they are two fine women," he said. "There's a reason I didn't ask Justices Sotomayor and Kagan to give me an opinion as to what they would do when they got on the Court."

Watch a clip of Graham's comments below. Kimberly Alters