OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Sen. Mitt Romney has not yet indicated which way he’ll vote in regards to President Joe Biden’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Kentanji Brown Jackson.
In an interview on Monday, Romney responded to a question from a reporter about the “tone” of Republicans during the hearing, which was said to be unacceptable by many Democrats and left-wing pundits though Democrats’ treatment of Trump nominee Brett Kavanaugh was considered atrocious by many Americans.
“Some colleagues on my side of the aisle, I thought, asked respectful questions and were able to elicit responses from her that I think were very helpful to those that are making an evaluation,” Romney responded.
“I think any setting like this that doesn’t show respect for the witness, or in this case the judge, is not the right way for us to go. We should show, in my opinion, more respect for one another. And so sometimes the rhetoric was a little hot,” Romney, a Utah Republican, added.
He went on to say that “in the final analysis, we’ll each be able to make our decision based upon our personal interviews with Judge Jackson and with the results that come from these hearings.”
“I have begun a deeper dive, a much deeper dive than I had during the prior evaluation,” Romney continued. “In this case, as well, she’s gone into much more depth talking about her judicial philosophy that she had before. And we’re, of course, looking at her judicial record, as a district judge, and as an appellate judge, in far more depth than we had before.”
During her confirmation hearings, Jackson turned heads and drew GOP ire a number of times — in some cases not for what she said but for what she would not say.
One of the most memorable exchanges came between her and Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), in which the judge refused to define what a “woman” is, claiming she could not do so because she is “not a biologist.”
Blackburn quoted the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg who said, “Supposed inherent differences are no longer accepted as a ground for race or national origin classifications. Physical differences between men and women, however, are enduring. The two sexes are not fungible. A community made up exclusively of one sex is different from a community composed of both.
“Do you agree with Justice Ginsburg that there are physical differences between men and women that are enduring?” Blackburn asked.
“Senator, respectfully, I am not familiar with that particular quote or case, so it’s hard for me to comment as to whether or not,” Jackson responded.
“Again, because I don’t know the case, I do not know how I’d interpret it. I’d need to read the whole thing,” the nominee said.
“Ok. And can you provide a definition for the word ‘woman’?” Blackburn asked.
“Can I provide a definition?” Brown said.
“No. I can’t,” the nominee said.
“You can’t?” Blackburn said quizzically.
“Not in this context. I’m not a biologist,” Brown said.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) has already announced that he cannot support Jackson because of her non-answers and some of her ‘soft-on-crime’ approach and views on illegal immigration while sitting on the federal bench.
“After studying the nominee’s record and watching her performance this week, I cannot and will not support Judge Jackson for a lifetime appointment to our highest Court,” McConnell said on the Senate floor last week. “First, Judge Jackson refuses to reject the fringe position that Democrats should try to pack the Supreme Court. Justices Ginsburg and Breyer had no problem denouncing this unpopular view and defending their institution. I assumed this would be an easy softball for Judge Jackson. But it wasn’t.”
