Don Lemon, an anchor for CNN, and Kaitlan Collins, his co-anchor, highlighted their intense shock that the highly intelligent contestants who make it to the stage on “Jeopardy!” had no clue who Ketanji Brown Jackson was. Ketanji Brown Jackson was the nominee from President Joe Biden that ended up becoming the first black woman on the Supreme Court.
The pair of co-anchors were discussing with yet another anchor, Poppy Harlow, the various clues that have spawned criticism on the show including the clue from this past week which featured the known murderer of Gabby Petito, Brian Laundrie. They highlighted a clip from that episode from which aired earlier in November in which Ken Jennings, the show’s host, stated, “She’s the first Black woman on the Supreme Court and the first justice to have been a federal public defender.”
After quite a few of the contestants put forth an answer, Jennings told them, “That’s Justice Jackson — Ketanji Brown Jackson.”
In the beginning, Collins seemingly sympathized with the group of contestants, stating, “I don’t think that’s that surprising, I will say. A lot of people don’t know who is on the Supreme Court.”
At that point, Lemon corrected her: “These are — but these are smart people, though. These are — I mean, when you go on ‘JEOPARDY!’ —”
“It’s a good point,” stated Collins before finally conceding.
“When you go on ‘JEOPARDY!’ I — look, if you were —” Lemon finally managed to get out.
“She was just confirmed,” continued Harlow.
At this point Collins seemed to be on board: “She’s been in the news so much.”
“She’s been in the news,” chimed back in Harlow.
“If you’re standing outside of a mall or whatever and people may not know — when they do the man on the street thing,” Lemon started.
“Yes,” parroted Collins.
“But when you’re smart enough to be a contestant on ‘JEOPARDY!’” pushed Lemon.
“You’ve got to know about current events, too, on ‘JEOPARDY!’” answered Collins.
“And history-making ones,” stated Harlow once again.
CNN hosts are PISSED no Jeopardy contestants knew the name of Biden's "history-making" SCOTUS pick pic.twitter.com/b46SSviZu1
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) November 18, 2022
Andrew McCarthy, a former federal prosecutor, called out Jackson this past May for her outright refusal to condemn the leaked document detailing the draft of the Supreme Court opinion regarding Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The opinion ended up repealing Roe v. Wade, and the leak itself spawned numerous headlines across the globe. McCarthy also slammed Jackson for ignoring the need to condemn the protests taking place directly outside the private residences of the other Supreme Court Justices.
McCarthy stated in an interview with National Review, “This ranges from somewhere between cowardly and sinister, much like the failure of the justices to issue a joint statement that echoes the chief justice’s condemnation of the leak and statement of determination to identify the leaker, and that condemns the protests, which violate federal law.“