Ketanji Brown Jackson today: Judge says ‘we’ve made it’ as Biden slams GOP ‘verbal abuse’ during hearing

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Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson delivered a stirring speech connecting her historic confirmation as the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court to many Black Americans’ origin in the United States with a simple phrase: “We’ve made it.”

Ms Jackson made the remarks at the White House the day after the Senate voted to confirm her 53 to 47, with only three Republicans voting with every Democrat to vote for her.

“It has taken 232 years and 115 prior appointments for a Black woman to be selected to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States,” she said. “But we’ve made it.”

Mr Biden, who as a senator was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee that oversees Supreme Court confirmations, said that he expected that the woman he would nominate to replace Justice Stephen Breyer would face a tough confirmation process but that he was appalled by the way she was treated in her hearings.

“It was verbal abuse,” Mr Biden said during a speech on the South Lawn of the White House a day after the Senate voted to confirm her 53 to 47. “The anger, the constant interruptions, the most vile, baseless assertions & accusations. In the face of it all, Judge Jackson showed the incredible character & integrity she possesses.”

Andrew Feinberg and Eric Garcia report from Washington, DC.