President Joe Biden praised Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) and other Senate Republicans on Friday for supporting his nominee to the Supreme Court, Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Biden spoke on the South Lawn of the White House during a ceremony celebrating Jackson’s confirmation.
“I hope I don’t get ’em in trouble,” Biden said, praising Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) as women of “integrity” for supporting Jackson.
The president singled out Romney for additional praise, comparing the United States senator from Utah to his father Gov. George Romney of Michigan, who marched to support the American civil rights movement in 1968.
“And Mitt Romney, whose Dad stood up like he did, his dad stood up and made these decisions on civil rights,” Biden said.
“They deserve enormous credit for setting aside partisanship and making a carefully considered judgment based on the judge’s character, judgement and independence,” Biden said.
Romney voted to confirm Jackson to the Supreme Court, despite voting against her nomination in 2021 to become a circuit judge for the District of Columbia Circuit. Romney has not explained why he flip-flopped on his decision.
Biden praised the three Republicans for siding against their party to support his nominee.
“I truly admire the respect, diligence, and hard work they demonstrated during the process,” he said.
But Biden complained that other Senate Republicans subjected Jackson to “verbal abuse” and “the most vile, baseless assertions and accusations.”
The president boasted that as the Senate judicial chair he had overseen more Supreme Court nominations than any other person alive today.
“I believe that respect for the process is important,” he said.
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