Amid the Senate Judiciary Committee's confirmation hearings, far-right Fox News host Laura Ingraham was eager to amplify conservative misgivings with President Joe Biden's nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court of the United States.
Given that Judge Jackson is one of the most qualified Supreme Court nominees in modern history and has earned a " well qualified" rating from the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, it's no surprise that Ingraham had to grasp at straws.
Watch below.
Ingraham says that senators who vote to confirm a Supreme Court Justice while the current President has a low approval rating are violating their sacred duty pic.twitter.com/8jFnE1OFsi
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 24, 2022
Ingraham told viewers:
"Rushing to approve a Supreme Court nominee of a President with an approval rating that always seems to be hitting new lows? That, my friends, is a violation of the basic sacred duty that each and every Senator—himself or herself—has agreed to. That means every word of the oath that they took to protect and defend the U.S. Constitution, that is an oath just as sacred as the oath that the nominees have to swear to as well."
Never mind that the Constitution Senators are sworn to—as Ingraham notes—protect and defend explicitly tasks the Senate with approving judicial nominees, but a look back into more recent Supreme Court confirmations calls the sincerity of Ingraham's screed into question.
Ingraham suggested that a President's poll numbers should inform Senators' decisions on whether or not to confirm a nominee. Biden's average approval rating currently hovers at around 42 percent.
On April 7 of 2017, Justice Neil Gorsuch was confirmed to the Supreme Court, filling the seat of Justice Antonin Scalia, which Senate Republicans had left vacant for nearly a year, until after Trump's 2017 inauguration. At the time of Gorsuch's confirmation, Trump's average approval rating was 40.4 percent.
On October 6, 2018, the Senate narrowly confirmed Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the Court. Trump's average approval rating at that time was 42.4 percent.
And on October 26, 2020—as Americans were casting early ballots in the 2020 election, which Trump would famously lose—the Senate confirmed Justice Amy Coney Barrett to the nation's highest Court. Trump's average approval rating? Slightly higher, at 42.7 percent.
Despite Trump's historically low approval ratings during his time in the White House, Ingraham reliably advocated for his Supreme Court picks on the Fox News airwaves.
What's more, though Biden's approval rating is currently in the 40s, Judge Jackson has seen overwhelming public support for her nomination. According to a Gallup poll published just yesterday, 58 percent of Americans want to see Jackson confirmed, virtually tying her with Justice John Roberts for the highest public support of a Supreme Court nomination in American history.
Ingraham's argument crumbled under scrutiny, with social media users reminding her of Trump's abysmal poll numbers at the time.
Trump appointed three Supreme Court justices with some of the lowest presidential approval ratings in history https://t.co/moSCjUvL9u
— Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) March 24, 2022
But confirming three nominees for a twice-impeached GOP president with low approval ratings -- well, naturally you gotta do that https://t.co/r5XxjXGCAL
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) March 24, 2022
Trump had a 55% disapproval rating when Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed. https://t.co/cXVyJsHCK7
— Miranda Yaver, PhD (@mirandayaver) March 24, 2022
Donald Trump never broke 50% in approvals but confirmed three Supreme Court justices. A majority of the Court was appointed by Presidents who lost the popular vote. https://t.co/IYq97yImM2
— Chris Jackson (@ChrisCJackson) March 24, 2022
So, by her reasoning, Trump should have never had 3 SC picks https://t.co/q8j9Ddz9ug
— Jenny G (@jenny_leigh_g) March 24, 2022
Trump's approval was in the tank when the GOP confirmed all three of his justices. https://t.co/zWvtsq8mnv
— NewDemocrat4Life (@reesetheone1) March 24, 2022
The mockery was instant.
Nice try, but no.