Sen. Lindsey Graham Bullies Sotomayor – While Accusing Her Of Being Bully

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In the most aggressive questioning of Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation hearing thus far, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) read out a laundry list of complaints about the nominee this afternoon. Graham went through insult after insult from anonymous reviews about Sotomayor’s temperament, including ones that called her “nasty,” “a terror,” “a bit of a bull,” and one that said she lacks any “judicial temperament.” Graham then asked her directly: “Do you think you have a temperament problem?” (Watch the video below.)

In response to that last question, Sotomayor said, “No, sir, I can only talk about what I know about my relationships…when I ask lawyers tough questions, it’s to give them an opportunity to explain their positions on both sides and to persuade me that they’re right.”

Graham later said, “I never liked appearing in court before a judge I thought was a bully.” Sotomayor repeated that she does ask hard questions, but she does it “evenly for both sides.”

After voicing those complaints and telling Sotomayor that “maybe these hearings are a time for self-reflection” for her, Graham became a bit of a bully himself, asking her if she remembered her “wise Latina” quote. When the judge answered in the affirmative, he asked her to recite it – twice. Sotomayor hedged a response, and Graham plowed ahead, said, “I’ve got it here,” and read the quote out himself.

The infantilizing questioning from Graham continued throughout his entire thread; he interrupted her answers multiple times, and made a theme out of asking her to explain her understanding of certain legal concepts and current events:

Do you know what the term ‘legal realism’ means? Can you explain it?

On 9/11, which New York City native Sotomayor described as “the most horrific experience of my personal life and the most horrific experience in imagining the pain of the families of victims of that tragedy”:

Do you know anything about the group that planned this attack, who they are and what they believe? Have you read anything about them?

It’s worth noting what Graham’s Supreme Court confirmation questioning was like back in 2006, at the hearings for Samuel Alito. He took his allotted time as an opportunity to apologize to Mrs. Alito, who was upset by what was perceived to be overly tough questioning of her husband:

As for Sotomayor, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) said at a press conference after the hearings that the nominee best showed her temperament today, in how she calmly answered Graham’s “barrage of questions.”

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