The Senate Judiciary Committee hearings for Judge Amy Coney Barrett's nomination to the Supreme Court have stretched across three days so far, and they haven't been without some memorable moments.
One such moment came when committee chairman, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), mentioned the "good old days of segregation."
Graham was asking Barrett about the landmark Supreme Court ruling Brown v. Board of Education, which deemed school segregation unconstitutional.
Watch below.
Sen. Judiciary Chair Lindsey Graham (R-SC) just asked a question about the "good old days of segregation." pic.twitter.com/vUkh3STrJv
— The Recount (@therecount) October 14, 2020
Graham asked Barrett:
"You're not aware of any effort to go back to the good old days of segregation by a legislative body, is that correct?"
While Graham appeared to be joking that the days of segregation could ever be "good," people were still alarmed at the flippancy with which he approached the subject.
One of the first to criticize him was Democratic South Carolina Senate nominee Jaime Harrison, whose campaign has collected record-shattering numbers of donations, giving Graham his most competitive reelection race in years.
Harrison admonished Graham for the unsettling levity.
.@LindseyGrahamSC just called segregation “the good old days." The good old days for who, Senator?
It's 2020, not 1920. Act like it. pic.twitter.com/qVhhfp7oRY
— Jaime Harrison (@harrisonjaime) October 14, 2020
When someone shows you who they are, believe them.@LindseyGrahamSC just reminisced on “the good old days of segregation." Listen to him. And then chip in to #SendLindseyHome: https://t.co/scMbSQEm43
— Jaime Harrison (@harrisonjaime) October 14, 2020
Graham accused Harrison of manufacturing a controversy out of a comment he made innocuously, saying:
"It was with deep sarcasm that I suggested that some legislative body would want to yearn for the good old days of segregation. The point that I'm trying to make — there is nobody in America in the legislative arena wanting to take us back to that dark period in American history. For my opponent to suggest that says far more about him than me."
People largely took Harrison's side.
Lindsey Graham is finished. https://t.co/GKQ83TQ1Px
— Jamaal Bowman (@JamaalBowmanNY) October 14, 2020
Get him, Jaime. https://t.co/lziTtmvV6Y
— Saeed Jones (@theferocity) October 14, 2020
Just a reminder that the promise to Make America Great Again is a matter of weaponized hope nostalgia for the “good ol' days" of unencumbered segregation and unimpeded white supremacy. https://t.co/YKLDkErc7V
— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) October 14, 2020
This man must be defeated on Nov 3rd. https://t.co/OTYnrkkNqd
— Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (@malcolmkenyatta) October 14, 2020
No wonder South Carolina has had enough@LindseyGrahamSC https://t.co/fiMYe7QeqH
— Helo Japes (@HeloJapes) October 14, 2020
Bye @LindseyGrahamSC. Had a nice run...for a racist. @ProjectLincoln @BythePEOP https://t.co/z3pfxex2G0
— Gellie (@gellie) October 14, 2020
Bye @LindseyGrahamSC. Had a nice run...for a racist. @ProjectLincoln @BythePEOP https://t.co/z3pfxex2G0
— Gellie (@gellie) October 14, 2020
The sarcasm excuse wasn't cutting it.
I read this as sarcasm as well, but this wasn't the time or place. The entire world is watching during a time of extreme racial and political turmoil, where real life minorities are being caged, trafficked and killed. He absolutely should not be given a pass for this.
— 1st mulatta on Mars (@flyingscrotus) October 14, 2020
The hearing record — which is permanent — doesn't have a sarcasm font.
— Ellen Clair Lamb (@ECLamb) October 14, 2020
It's not, because even as sarcasm it's not funny
— Boomer Brett (@TheChandlerDude) October 14, 2020
Graham's comments come on the heels of another controversial remark he made: that Black South Carolinians could go anywhere they want in the state—they just "need to be conservative."
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