‘You Are Worthy’: Cory Booker Cries While Addressing Ketanji Brown Jackson, Who Wipes Away Tears

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) cried as he addressed Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson during her final confirmation hearing on Wednesday. Jackson listened to for several minutes, before she wiped away tears.

The first Black woman to be nominated for a seat on the Supreme Court has spent three days talking with lawmakers. Some Senate Republicans have challenged her views on race in classrooms, criminal justice reform and sentences for pedophiles.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) actually stormed out of Tuesday’s hearing after he interrogated her about representing detainees at Guantanamo Bay while she was a federal public defender.

Booker took a swing at his GOP colleagues for grilling Jackson over her personal views. He then grew emotional as he recounted his initial days in the Senate.

The New Jersey Democrat said that many overnight employees at the U.S. Capitol are Black. He told Jackson that a man once approached him to celebrate his presence there.

He said the man cried as he attempted to thank him for representing him. Booker then became emotional.

“I want to tell you when I look at you this is why I get emotional,” Booker said while addressing Jackson. “You’re a person that is so much more than your race and gender. You’re a Christian, you’re a mom. You’re an intellect.”

“For me, I’m sorry, it’s hard for me to look at you and not see my mom, not to see my cousins,” Booker said, as he cried. “One of them who had to come here and sit behind you.”

“I see my ancestors and yours,” Booker said. “You have earned this spot, you are worthy. You are a great American.”

“Nobody’s going to steal the joy,” he said of those who are celebrating the historic nature of Jackson’s nomination.

Jackson reached for a tissue and wiped tears away from her eyes.

Watch above, via C-SPAN.