REMINDER: Lindsey Graham Is A Hypocrite

Today’s Senate floor speech from Senator Lindsey Graham was just the final stage of his weeks-long temper tantrum. Lindsey Graham’s remarks on Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson are not only wrong and hypocritical, they show a blatant lack of self-awareness from the South Carolina senator. 

Let’s not forget, Lindsey Graham had no issue voting to confirm Judge Jackson as a circuit court judge less than a year ago. 

SCOTUS Blog: “Jackson was confirmed on June 14, 2021, by a vote of 53-44. Three Republicans – Susan Collins of Maine, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska – joined all Democrats in voting for her.”

CNN: “Asked about his vote, Graham, who served as chair of the Judiciary Committee in the last session of Congress, told reporters, ‘I think [Ketanji Brown Jackson]’s qualified. I think I try to be somewhat consistent here. I think she’s qualified for the job. She has a different philosophy than I do.’”

Washington Post: “When Jackson was elevated to the appeals court last year, her record on child pornography cases was not an issue.”

Graham also repeatedly voted to confirm Trump-appointed judges with sentencing records similar to Judge Jackson’s.

ABC News: “An ABC News review of federal judges appointed and confirmed during the Trump administration found nearly a dozen had handed down below-guideline sentences in cases of defendants viewing, possessing, transporting or distributing child pornography.”

New York Times: “But Mr. Hawley, Mr. Graham, Mr. Cotton and Mr. Cruz all voted to confirm judges nominated by President Donald J. Trump to appeals courts even though those nominees had given out sentences lighter than prosecutor recommendations in cases involving images of child sex abuse.”

And to top it all off, complaints from Graham about “dark money” are completely hypocritical given his silence as conservative dark money groups flooded the airwaves for Trump and McConnell’s Supreme Court nominees. 

HuffPost: “Republicans claimed there was nothing wrong with Trump letting representatives from an outside group run his judicial selection process, or with a dark money group spending funds to support the eventual nominees. Now, they have taken the hypocritical and cynical approach of loudly crying foul.”

Politico: “Judicial Crisis Network launches $3 million ad campaign for Barrett”

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