Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that President Joe Biden’s promise to nominate a black woman to the Supreme Court was not affirmative action.
Anchor Margaret Brennan asked, “Your colleague, Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi said, ‘Picking a female black Supreme Court Justice is affirmative racial discrimination.’ He questioned any potential impartiality from any of the candidates named. Nikki Haley, also from South Carolina, tweeted the president should have a race or gender litmus test. President Reagan promised to nominate a woman, Sandra Day O’Connor. Why is this different?”
Graham said, “It’s not different to me. Put me in the camp of making sure the court and other institutions look like America. You know, we make a real effort as Republicans to recruit women and people of color to make the party look more like America. Affirmative action is picking somebody not as well qualified for past wrongs.”
Discussing South Carolina U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Childs, Graham said, “Michelle Childs is incredibly qualified. There’s no affirmative action component if you pick her. She is highly qualified.”
He added, “I do see putting a black woman on the court making the court more like America. In the history of our country, we’ve only had five women serve and two African-American men. So let’s make the court more like America, but qualifications have to be the biggest consideration.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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