It was a historic vote that will live forever in the history books: The Senate confirmed the first Black woman to become a U.S. Supreme Court justice. And it was a vote that too will go down in history. Not only for being by such an incredibly slim margin – 53 to 47 – but for how Senate Republicans treated the entire process.
Take Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), who purposely made the entire country – including the President and his nominee, watching from the Roosevelt Room in the White House – wait more than 16 minutes until he showed up to cast the final vote, a “no.” Sen. Paul wasn’t even dressed in a suit, he wore “casual attire” and had to vote from off the Senate floor, just one more on a pile of indignities he inflicted on what many experts have said is one of the most qualified people ever to be nominated to the Supreme Court.
Rand Paul wasn’t the only Republican to treat Judge Jackson with disdain. Senators Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham, John Cornyn, Mike Lee, Tom Cotton and Marsha Blackburn – among others – all but accused her of being soft on pedophiles.
After Sen. Paul cast the final vote – Democrats let the clock run as they waited for him to show up – the chamber erupted in celebration. At least Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), who voted for Jackson, stood and applauded.
Within seconds, Senate Republicans got up and walked out. No effort to congratulate the Democrats, no effort to acknowledge the historic nature of the proceedings, they just stood up, and skulked out, as you can see in this close-up clip. As you can see from the photo at the top their side of the chamber was almost completely empty.
The above clip has nearly one million views in just two and a half hours.