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The U.S. Supreme Court saw one of its justices electing to retire in Stephen Breyer, paving the way for President Joe Biden to appoint a new justice to the bench of the highest court in the land. Sen. Roger Wicker, a Republican senator representing Mississippi, said in a recent interview that Biden’s selection will be a “beneficiary” of affirmative action along with other quips.
The Mississippi Free Press published a report highlighting that Sen. Wicker made an appearance on SuperTalk Mississippi Radio on Friday (Jan. 28). Wicker reacted to the news that Biden’s next Supreme Court justice could be a Black woman, living up to a promise the administration made on the campaign trail to promote diversity at the federal judiciary level where Black women make up just 3 percent of the total.
From the Mississippi Free Press:
“The irony is that the Supreme Court is at the very time hearing cases about this sort of affirmative racial discrimination while adding someone who is the beneficiary of this sort of quota,” Wicker told host Paul Gallo on SuperTalk Mississippi Radio today, referring to a pending U.S. Supreme Court case challenging affirmative action in college admissions.
“The majority of the court may be saying writ large that it’s unconstitutional. We’ll see how that irony works out.”
The outlet notes that Wicker did not offer pushback to President Donald Trump’s choice to nominate a woman to the bench after the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, backing the former president’s nomination of Amy Comey Barrett.
Wicker added that whoever Biden selects will not agree with Republicans, predicting that the incoming justice won’t be a “nice, stately liberal” as he considered Breyer to be.
On Twitter, the reaction to Sen. Roger Wicker’s quip about the potential Supreme Court justice nominee has been cropping up since yesterday. We’ve got those reactions below.
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1.
If you thought what Mitch McConnell said about "Americans and African Americans" voting was bad, can I introduce you to Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker, who just said no Republican will vote for a black female SCOTUS nominee?
— Rex Zane (@rexzane1) January 29, 2022
2.
According to Sen. Roger Wicker, if a Biden justice is confirmed who looks like this
, she will be unique as an affirmative action pick who was chosen because of her gender and skin color.
Unlike 108 of the 115 justices preceding her who were all white men. pic.twitter.com/qJDFflBhhf
— Ashton Pittman (@ashtonpittman) January 29, 2022
3.
Mississippi has the largest Black population than any any other state in the US at nearly 39%. It has not elected a Black senator since Reconstruction in 1881. Good to know Sen. Wicker & every one of his predecessors since 1881, weren’t beneficiaries of affirmative action. https://t.co/ltj3M5LyzN
— aderson francois
14th Amendment Baby (@abfrancois) January 29, 2022
4.
No one seems to want to say that Wicker is a racist for assuming a black woman won’t be qualified. He’s a racist. That’s it. It isn’t policy or politics. He has simply stated that no Republican will vote for a black woman. It’s 2022 and we’re still dealing with these assholes. https://t.co/iFynz9vYMv
— Fred Wellman (@FPWellman) January 29, 2022
5.
Sen. Wicker says whomever Biden’s SCOTUS nominee is, will be a “beneficiary” of affirmative action.
How much has good ol’ boy, Roger benefited from by being born a white man in South?
ANY successful WOC has had to work harder, longer & put-up w/shit like this her whole life. https://t.co/SnFKbhq0EE
— Ana Navarro-Cárdenas (@ananavarro) January 29, 2022
6.
A reminder for anyone who needs it that had the 1890 Mississippi Constitution not ended Reconstruction efforts and rolled back voting rights for Black people in this state, Roger Wicker would have never had a chance at serving in the US Senate today. https://t.co/kGRRZGAO4g
— James M. Thomas (JT)
(@Insurgent_Prof) January 29, 2022
7.
Wicker doesn't believe that a black woman can be qualified to be on SCOTUS. He worries about their demeanor. He might tell himself that he's not racist or a white supremacist, but we can read.
https://t.co/wNY5Te2696— This Nomadic Life (@kurtzjd) January 29, 2022
8.
Sen. Wicker voted to confirm Amy Coney Barrett – who never tried a case to a verdict or ever argued in front of a court of appeals.
I wonder what’s different this time… https://t.co/PaHWmh8yJq
— Tim Fullerton (@TimFullerton) January 29, 2022
9.
If you haven't read Wicker's statements in this article, you really should. This is how one of the Republican institutionalists in the Senate is talking about the 1st Black woman SCOTUS justice. https://t.co/gP9ldjmypN
— David Darmofal (@david_darmofal) January 29, 2022
10.
How much does Roger Wicker want to say the word uppity? https://t.co/jZuMVSK75Z
— Liz Dye (@5DollarFeminist) January 29, 2022
11.
In the early 2000s, Roger Wicker spoke at a meeting of the Council of Conservative Citizens — the modern incarnation of the Citizens’ Councils, which were the dressed-up KKK during the mid-Twentieth Century.
When someone shows you who they are, believe them. https://t.co/JTBR1aKCXo
— Will Bardwell (@willbardwell) January 29, 2022
12.
You mean like a Republican Senator from Mississippi would be an affirmative action beneficiary representing bigots, racists, and fascists, @RogerWicker? https://t.co/xWIKQCvOel
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) January 29, 2022
13.
If you had Roger Wicker – on Mississippi talk radio, a mere day after the Breyer retirement announcement – on your bingo card as the first Senate Republican to show his whole ass during this process, congratulations https://t.co/0uqNSUydhn
— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) January 29, 2022