Tucker Carlson, one of many Republicans, was on Tuesday one of many who grasped for any reason, however weakly premised to oppose Ketanji brown Jackson’s nomination to the United States Supreme Court.
But instead of some new line of attack, Tucker Carlson migrated back to something he brought up a couple of weeks ago: His misconception that someone’s LSAT score somehow matters in assessing how good of a legal mind they are.
“Biden, sounding maybe a touch defensive, has described Ketanji Brown Jackson as one of this country’s great legal minds. And we certainly want to believe that. For, for real, given that she’s probably gonna be confirmed no matter what we think,”Tucker Carlson spoke on Tuesday during Fox News’s show.
“The question is, is it true? Is she really one of this country’s great legal minds? One way to know, one indication would be her LSAT scores,”Tucker Carlson continues. “The LSAT is not a knowledge test. It measures logic and reasoning abilities. And no one doubts its an accurate measure of those things, which predict legal skills.”
“And that’s why top law fir- top law schools have long used that test. So how did Ketanji Brown Jackson do on the LSAT? Sorry. You’re not allowed to ask. Because asking is racism,”Tucker Carlson concluded.
Now, Tucker did correct himself, but we want to reiterate that law firms do not care about a candidate’s LSAT scores. They want to know about class standing and grades, as well as whether someone passed the bar exam.
As for the rest, it’s just nonsense. Tucker Carlson keeps attempting to suggest there’s something sinister about the fact that we don’t know Jackson’s LSATs, but we don’t know the LSAT of any practicing attorney or judge, unless they choose to disclose it. That’s because LSAT results aren’t made public.
We don’t understand why Tucker assumed people think he’s racist, but people very much are allowed to ask. It’s just that no one is obligated to provide irrelevant private information on demand.
The LSAT — the Law School Admissions Test — is only required to get into law school. It does not affect whether someone becomes a lawyer. As we have already mentioned, it will depend on your grades and class standings, as well as whether you pass the bar exam.
Tucker Carlson could also look at Jackson’s public records if he wanted to ascertain her intelligence or legal ability. It must be said, however, that Ivy League attendance does not count. Smart people automatically become smartJackson graduated in 1992 from Harvard Undergrad Magna Cum Laude and 1996 from Harvard Law Cum Laude. This means that she was in the top 5 percent of her undergraduate class, and in the top 20 percent of her law school class.
Even though it may seem like a drop, keep in mind that 1) grad school can be a lot more competitive than usual and 2) Jackson was the editor for the Harvard Law Review. Prior to being appointed to the federal bench, she continued to practice law at firms in Massachusetts, New York, Washington, D.C., California, and Washington, D.C. She was likely to have had to take several bar exams. This task is easy if you ask any lawyer.
But, as we noted above, it appears Tucker Carlson is fixating on this flimsy criticism because he can’t identify anything substantial to ding Jackson on. After all, she took the LSAT 30 years ago, and it sure is a weird that he hasn’t found anything in the next 3 decades to complain about. We wish you better luck next time.
You can watch the video below.