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Richard Grenell Upset Gays, White Men 'Weren't Considered' for SCOTUS

Ketanji Brown Jackson and Richard Grenell

Out Trump ally Richard Grenell is making a disingenuous argument in the wake of Ketanji Brown Jackson's confirmation.

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Richard Grenell, a gay conservative who worked in Donald Trump's administration, is objecting to President Joe Biden's choice of Ketanji Brown Jackson for the Supreme Court because, Grenell tweeted, "Hispanics, Asians, Whites, gays and men were not even considered."

Jackson, confirmed Thursday by the Senate, will be the first Black woman on the court. Biden fulfilled a campaign promise to name a Black woman. She will be only the sixth woman and third Black person to be a Supreme Court justice.

There are plenty of things wrong with Grenell's argument. As almost every Supreme Court justice in the nation's history has been a white man, white men are hardly underrepresented. There is already a Hispanic justice, Sonia Sotomayor. Grenell has no way of knowing if some of the Black women Biden considered had some Hispanic, Asian, or white ancestry, or were members of the LGBTQ+ community. And wouldn't commit to naming a gay justice or an Asian or Hispanic one be the same type of "identity politics" that conservatives decried in Biden's choice of a Black woman?

Numerous Twitter users took Grenell to task.

One Twitter user wrote, "Fact: Since the Supreme Court was established in 1789, 114 justices have served on the bench. Of those, 108 have been White men. Fiction: Your argument."

Another user posted, "The Court should represent all Americans. And we've probably already had a (few) gay Justices, [to be honest]."

And yet another user wrote: "You know what is even a worse precedent? It's when Mitch McConnell decided to not even consider a duly nominated judge for the court. Years later he changed his justification to rush through another nominee. He has forever politicized a process that shouldn't be."

To some tweets by prominent figures, who are people of color, Grenell responded to them by saying they were defending racism and sexism.

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Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.
Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.