With the war in Ukraine still raging and hundreds of innocent Ukrainians dying from indiscriminate Russian bombings, NBC's Chuck Todd is more concerned that the war will distract Americans from the confirmation of President Biden's Supreme Court nominee, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson and therefore deny Biden of a badly needed polling bump.
After a discussion with his panel on Sunday's Meet the Press, Todd turned the conversation away from Ukraine and towards the upcoming confirmation hearings for Judge Jackson. Todd bemoaned the fact that because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Jackson's confirmation "feels like it's going to be an afterthought".
Turning to PBS News Hour's chief correspondent Amna Nawaz, Todd asked if it matters that the hearings won't get as much attention and -- more importantly to Todd -- will it "hurt President Biden politically because he doesn't get sort of a little bit of an afterglow?"
Nawaz never really directly answered Todd. Instead, she said that "one of the big questions going in does this have enough of a rally effect. A supportive effect that carries over into the midterms" because since the hearings are "happening so early" Senate "Democrats want to get it over by the Easter recess anyway."
"So do Republicans. They want to get it over with too it seems like," Todd observed because "they can’t quiz her about inflation."
Chief Washington correspondent and MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell butted in remarking how she thinks the "Republican votes may have changed because now they feel they have to be in lockstep against her" before gushing about what a "historic moment" this is, presumably referring to the fact that Jackson is the first black woman to be nominated to the court.
Todd agreed, responding "that's why we wanted to make a quick note of it here."
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To read the relevant transcript click "expand":
NBC’s Meet the Press
3/20/2022
11:27:40 a.m. EasternCHUCK TODD: Next week was supposed–is the debut of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. And she–this is where it feels like it's going to be an afterthought. It's going to be in our old ways of describing the Washington Post, the A4 story. And you know, does that matter? Does that I guess hurt President Biden politically because he doesn't get sort of a little bit of a afterglow?
AMNA NAWAZ: I mean one of the big questions going in does this have enough of a rally effect. A supportive effect that carries over into the midterms. It's happening so early. Democrats want to get it over by the Easter recess anyway.
TODD: So do Republicans. They want to get it over with too it seems like.
NAWAZ: Right.
TODD: Because they can’t quiz her about inflation.
NAWAZ: Sure but they can still ask her about a lot of things. I think in many ways it's going to be a repeat of the hearing she went through almost a year ago. Right? A lot of the same issues are gonna come up, not much has changed since then and the lens has completely refocused. America is paying attention to different things.
ANDREA MITCHELL: Some of the Republican votes may have changed because now they feel they have to be in lockstep against her.
TODD: Yeah it’s becoming a more party-line vote.
MITCHELL: The other thing is it's not going to change the character of the court because she's replacing Breyer, and so it's a liberal for a liberal, and it's not going to change votes on the court. It is an historic moment, though, and we shouldn't overlook that.
TODD: I completely agree and that's why we wanted to make a quick note of it here.
