CNN Anchor Confronts Trump Allies on Charlie Kirk’s Comments About Prominent Black Women
CNN anchor Abby Phillip confronted Trump allies Hogan Gidley and Brad Todd over a Charlie Kirk rant about the brain “processing power” of prominent Black women like Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, alleging a double standard.
Among a raft of Kirk rants that have been scrutinized in the wake of his killing is a 2023 commentary on the qualifications of a list of prominent Black women — then-MSNBC host Joy Reid, former First Lady Michelle Obama, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, and Justice Jackson — whom he said “stole” positions from “white person(s)”:
If we would have said three weeks ago, Blake, if we had said that that Joy Reid and Michelle Obama and Sheila Jackson Lee and Ketanji Brown Jackson were affirmative-action picks, we would have been called ‘rrrrrrrr-racist.’
But now they’re comin’ out and they’re saying it for us! They’re comin’ out and they’re saying, “I’m only here because of affirmative action.”
Yeah, we know. You do not have the brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously. You had to go steal a white person’s slot to go be taken somewhat seriously.
On Tuesday’s edition of CNN NewsNight, Phillip mixed it up with Todd and Gidley over the comments, asking why the same standard doesn’t apply to picks like Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Clarence Thomas:
PHILLIP: You were in the White House when Donald Trump said he was going to put a woman on the Supreme Court and then he picked Amy Coney Barrett. Is she not qualified?
GIDLEY: She is extremely qualified.
PHILLIP: Okay. So, why is qualified but Ketanji Brown Jackson is not?
GIDLEY: He talked about the qualification as well. What I’m saying is, in that clear directive from Joe Biden, in the clear directive from those companies, they’re saying we are filling the quota.
PHILLIP: Let me ask — I’m going to ask you again because I think you have another opportunity to really think this through.
Donald Trump said, I am going to pick a woman to go on the Supreme Court. Oh, you know what? Let me ask — let me give you —
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: George H.W. Bush said, I am going to pick a black man to fill a role on the Supreme Court. Are those people unqualified?
GIDLEY: I want always the most qualified people to hold those jobs.
PHILLIP: Are they qualified or not?
GIDLEY: It depends on their qualification.
PHILLIP: It wasn’t a quota or not?
GIDLEY: It’s always a quota when you base it on race or gender.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: Because Ketanji Brown Jackson —
GIDLEY: If you base it on qualification, if the person is black or a woman or whatever, it doesn’t matter.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: Hogan, Hogan, I really, listen.
(CROSSTALK)
GIDLEY: That’s the point.
PHILLIP: Let me just ask you a direct question.
(CROSSTALK)
GIDLEY: It’s the ultimate meritocracy.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: Is it okay for Donald Trump to have DEI quotas or not?
GIDLEY: It’s not okay for anyone to have DEI quotas.
PHILLIP: So then, why did he have a DEI quota, by your definition, for Amy Coney Barrett?
GIDLEY: He didn’t. He said that was one of the selections. People said he should fill it with a woman.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: He — okay. He said he was going to fill it with a woman and he did.
UNKNOWN: He did not only interview women for the job.
GIDLEY: Correct.
PHILLIP: Okay.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: Joe Biden didn’t interview men — black women for the job?
TODD: He — Joe Biden said he, as he went in his search process, his shortlist would be all women of color. And they were.
PHILLIP: Listen.
HINOJOSA: And they were qualified.
CLYBURN: That’s not true.
HINOJOSA: They were qualified.
TODD: We’re taking issues with the press.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: Brad, Brad, I just think it’s — you guys are — you guys are misleading. I don’t want to — I’m not going to — I’m not going to say you’re lying. I’m just going to say you’re misleading about what Donald Trump said the day after, you know, Justice Ginsburg died. He said he was going to pick a woman to replace her. He said that, okay? I’m not paraphrasing. That is what he said.
(CROSSTALK)
TODD: Well, by that standard, he should not have issued that criteria.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: So, okay. All right, one more thing. Justice Thomas, who I’m sure you love. You love him, right?
GIDLEY: Sure.
PHILLIP: He was chosen to replace a black Supreme Court justice in part because he was a black man. Who is more qualified in terms of actual experience to be on the court, him or Ketanji Brown Jackson? Do you know?
GIDLEY: I don’t know of any of them.
PHILLIP: Okay. Well, I’ve checked. I’ve checked. She served as a federal judge for way longer. He actually didn’t before she was put on the Supreme —
(CROSSTALK)
TODD: No. False. He was — he was on the D.C. Court of Appeals, the second highest —
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: So, okay. Well, she served — she served — yes, yes.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: He was on there for — he was on there for a very brief period of time. She will serve as a judge for —
(CROSSTALK)
TODD: We have never considered any nominee for Supreme Court —
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: Hold on. I am not —
TODD: — who was on the D.C. Court of Appeals to be unqualified for the Supreme Court. Never. Never, ever has that been said.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: Hold on. I am not suggesting — I am not suggesting —
(CROSSTALK)
TODD: You’re saying Clarence Thomas was not qualified?
PHILLIP: I’m not — actually, no, I am not.
(CROSSTALK)
TODD: You just said he was not qualified.
PHILLIP: I am not suggesting that he’s unqualified at all.
(CROSSTALK)
TODD: You did.
PHILLIP: I am saying that he is qualified just the way that Ketanji Brown Jackson’s qualified, just the way that Amy Coney Barrett’s qualified.
(CROSSTALK)
TODD: No, you said that he was less qualified than Ketanji Brown Jackson. No, that’s what you said.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: No, no. I’m asking you — I’m saying about comparing their resumes. If you want to compare their resumes —
(CROSSTALK)
TODD: You said he was less qualified —
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: One of the things that Charlie Kirk said was that Amy Coney – was that Ketanji Brown Jackson, you know, if she said that she was affirmative action pack and what she is saying is that she didn’t have the brain processing power to get that job without replacing a white man.
TODD: Look.
PHILLIP: But I’m — but I’m asking you, if you objectively look at her resume, is that a factual statement?
TODD: Oh, she’s qualified for the Supreme Court. Of course.
PHILLIP: Okay. So then, let’s leave it at that because I just think that —
TODD: She’s not very good at her job but she’s qualified.
PHILLIP: Okay. Let’s leave it at that because we want to make a lot of broad statements about who’s qualified and who’s not.
Watch above via CNN NewsNight.
