'View' guest co-host defends Marsha Blackburn's critiques of Ketanji Brown Jackson: 'Legitimate concerns'
'I think Marsha Blackburn had a point there'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Lindsey Granger, guest co-hosting on ABC's daytime gabfest "The View," defended Republicans critical of Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson following an intense first day of Senate Judiciary Committee hearings focused on her nomination.
During Tuesday's opening segment, Granger argued it would be "unfair" for Jackson to not face the same critiques as her potential Supreme Court colleagues during their respective confirmation processes and that there were "legitimate concerns" being voiced by Republicans like Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.
Whoopi Goldberg, Sara Haines, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin and Lindsey Granger on the set of ABC's "The View" on March 22, 2022. (Screenshot/ABC) (Screenshot/ABC)
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Co-host Whoopi Goldberg began the segment by playing video clips of Blackburn, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaking during the confirmation hearings, with special attention given to Blackburn's comments.
"Of course, yesterday some Republicans, whose names you know, used their time at the hearing to b***h. OK? They put their grievances out there from like 1910 all the way up to yesterday," Goldberg said before playing the clips.
Blackburn raised questions about Jackson's "hidden agenda," her past treatment of violent offenders, her views on parental rights in education, and her potential support for efforts by some Democrats to pack the Supreme Court with more liberal justices.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}UNITED STATES - MARCH 21: Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., listens to senators opening statements during the confirmation hearing for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Biden's nominee for Associate Justice to the Supreme Court, on Monday, March 21, 2022. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
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Goldberg stated that everyone "knew this was coming" and turned to Granger for her take.
"As a Black woman, I have the perspective of walking into the room and understanding that it’s twice as hard to even be there. And so I respect that and understand and think Ketanji deserves to be in that room," Granger said. "But to give her not the critique that every other of her counterparts have gotten is unfair."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I mean, we need to know about things that she's ruled on in the past," she added. "I think Marsha Blackburn had a point there … she wants to know. You reside on the board of a school, where do you stand on critical race theory?"
Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson speaks during the second day of her confirmation hearing, Monday, March 21, 2022, to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
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Granger, referring to Blackburn's questioning on parental rights in schools, expressed concern over the teaching of critical race theory in schools, noted that it was important for her daughter to understand "Black excellence," but questioned whether the subject should be "the first thing on the agenda."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"And, so, I think there [are] legitimate concerns coming from people like Marsha Blackburn," she said.
Tuesday marks the second day of confirmation hearings for Jackson, who if confirmed will be the first Black woman to sit on the Supreme Court. Her confirmation appears likely with Democrats holding a slim majority and none of their members signaling any likely opposition.