Politics

Republicans walk out of Senate chamber after Jackson confirmed as Supreme Court judge

Republicans walk out of Senate chamber after Jackson confirmed as Supreme Court judge

Ketanji Brown Jackson confirmed as first Black woman Supreme Court justice

Video

The Senate voted 53-47 to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as the 116th justice and the first Black woman on the US Supreme Court - and some Republicans looked furious.

Three Republican senators — Mitt Romney (Utah), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine) — joined all the 48 Democrats and two independents in voting to confirm Jackson to the highest US court.

Despite the joy of this historic moment, some Republicans stormed out of the chamber.

On Thursday, Joy-Ann Reid of NBC's The Reid Out took to her Twitter to share a video of the reactions.

"The eruption of cheers and applause among the Democrats… the Republicans walking out in a huff, leaving only Mitt Romney standing to applaud. What a scene..." Reid captioned her post.

In the video, many people in the chamber gave Jackson a standing ovation for her confirmation.

But then, the screen panned over to the other side, showing Romney standing and clapping as other people like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) were seen not clapping and heading towards the exits.

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People replied to Reid's post to ask why the Republicans in the video couldn't find joy in the situation.

One wrote: "Why can't those senators at least celebrate history?! What a day."

"They will not [steal] my joy!" another added.

A third wrote: "Members of the @GOP cult taking their ball & going home because they didn't get what they wanted. Your votes at work, people. You gave your vote to tantrum-throwing babies. Does it sting? #SupremeCourtJusticeKetanjiBrownJackson," another added.

Someone else quipped: "Everybody who left is gon cry in the car."

Jackson faced several attacks before the Senate Judiciary Committee during her marathon confirmation hearings.

For one, Cruz asked her if babies are racist in an attempt to quiz her about the critical race theory.

"Do you agree with this book that is being taught with kids that babies are racist?" he asked.

Jackson sighed and took a second to compose herself before answering Cruz's odd question.

On the other hand, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AK) suggested that Jackson would have defended Nazis during the Nuremberg trials and had a "real interest in helping terrorists." Those sentiments naturally received backlash online.

Jackson's confirmation comes less than two months after President Joe Biden introduced her as his pick to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer. This fulfilled Biden's campaign promise of appointing a Black woman to the Supreme Court.

Later this year, Breyer is set to retire at the end of the court's current term.

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