House Majority Whip, Rep. Jim Clyburn and Sen. Lindsey Graham are both backing Michelle Childs to be President Joe Biden’s Supreme Court justice nominee. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Despite being on opposite sides of the aisle politically, Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn and Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham now have something in common. Both men are passionately advocating for South Carolina District Court Judge J. Michelle Childs to become President Joe Biden’s supreme court justice nominee.
“She has the experience that is needed and she has the temperament that is required,” Clyburn said of Childs in an interview with MSNBC. He added Childs “is thoroughly vetted,” “thoroughly southern” and “is not a novice leader.”
As the House majority whip and highest-ranking Black member of Congress, Clyburn is very close to Biden and often has his ear. So much so, Clyburn is the one who got Biden to commit to selecting a Black woman for the position of the next SCOTUS justice in the first place.
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Graham echoed Clyburn’s sentiments in an interview with CBS’ “Face the Nation,” saying he was committed to “making sure the court and other institutions look like America.”
“In the history of our country we’ve only had five women serve and two African American men. So let’s make the court more like America,” Graham said, “ But qualifications have to be the biggest consideration, and as to Michelle Childs, I think she’s qualified by every measure.”
“Michelle Childs is incredibly qualified. There’s no affirmative action component if you pick her. She is highly qualified,” Graham said while discussing some people’s gripe with Biden’s decision to select a Black woman for the position who stated it is a form of affirmative action.
According to Politico, Graham added, “I think I made it pretty clear that I’m a big admirer of Judge Childs.”
A Detroit native whose police officer father was killed in the line of duty, Childs is considered an uncoventional choice as a SCOTUS nominee due to not having an Ivy LEague background. But not everyone is singing Childs’ praises. Many are citing her background working as an attorney who defended corporations against employee claims of discrimination and civil rights violations, among other workplace abuse issues, as problematic.
“Childs’s experience is worth scrutinizing closely. As a lawyer, Childs served as an associate and then partner at Nexsen Pruet Jacobs & Pollard, from 1992 to 2000,” Alex Sammon of The American Prospect wrote. “At Nexsen Pruet, Childs worked primarily in labor and employment law, principally working on behalf of employers against allegations of racial discrimination, civil rights violations, and unionization drives.”
Sammon added Childs’ “experience is nothing like the ‘diversity of experience’ that the Biden administration has championed. Rather, her record looks much more like the typical corporate lawyer that the White House has purposefully tried to get away from in its attempt to remake the federal bench.”
“Appointing a Black woman with a history of defending employers against discrimination cases brought under the Civil Rights Act would certainly undermine the message Biden has sought to convey with this nomination, and make for a confusing capstone to the administration’s judicial project,” Sammon continued.
Some people on Twitter agreed.
“Only way she got to where she is in SC. You don’t get anywhere from helping Black people,” @MarleyK20 responded. “Not surprised at all. Explains why Lindsey Graham liked her so. White Supremacy playing both sides.”
“This needs to be reported on fully. Dems cannot afford to put someone on that court who does not believe organized labor deserves the same protections as corporations. That should be table stakes,” @leonceg wrote.
“All skin folk ain’t kin folk,” @RudyDaddysean02 tweeted.
However, others came to Childs’ defense.
“The smear of a black woman is REAL in these streets! You’ll do anything to get back at Clyburn, that’s who you really have the beef with! I hope people take time to look at the records of ALL the great women on the short list on NON political sites,” user @JaQuan_Penn tweeted.
“Plus, as an associate, she didn’t get to choose which cases she got to work on. Also, representing employers in employment disputes is not the same as being “anti-union.” Another purity test,” @Lewgo2 wrote.
“This is a ridiculous smear. Judge Child’s can’t make up facts to avoid dismissing discrimination claims,” @Fly_Sistah chimed in. “I personally gave plaintiff’s every benefit of the doubt w facts in the record but still had to recommend lower court rulings be upheld. She can’t say: You’re Black, you win.”
“So a successful black woman has to have had completely pure background in order to qualify? Never seen that standard applied to a white man,” @jildasn tweeted.
“Just knowing that @alex_sammon doesn’t like Child makes me like her more to be SCOTUS #BlackTwitter,” @bronsugar7878 wrote.
In a separate interview with CNN, Clyburn doubled down on his support of Childs, heralding her as a candidate who could get a bipartisan confirmation.
“I want us to make sure that it is a Black woman, I want to make sure that it’s a woman that will get universal support. When I say universal, I mean bipartisan support,” Clyburn said. “And I know that Michelle Childs will have the support of several Republicans, including the two Republican senators from South Carolina.”
PHOTOS:
LEFT: Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks to reporters during a news conference at the Capitol, Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021, in Washington. Graham said Thursday that the president must accept his own role in the violence that occurred at the U.S. Capitol. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
RIGHT: House Majority Whip, Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., right, greets Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden, as he endorses him in North Charleston, S.C., Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
