- Demings said a lot of the attacks on Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson were familiar to her.
- Demings was the first female police chief in Orlando.
- Brown Jackson grew up in Demings' home state of Florida.
MIAMI — Democratic Rep. Val Demings slammed Republicans on Tuesday for their attacks on President Joe Biden's historic nominee to the Supreme Court, saying she understands the type of scrutiny Judge Kentaji Brown Jackson faces.
"I served as the first woman police chief in Orlando," said Demings, who is running for the Democratic nomination for Senate in Florida to unseat GOP Sen. Marco Rubio. "I'm familiar with the attacks."
"But when I was the police chief I was prepared to serve my community and nothing was going to stop me from that," she added.
Brown Jackson is widely expected to be confirmed to the high court, where she would be the first Black woman on the bench. But it's not clear yet whether any Republicans will support her nomination.
Senate Republicans on the Judiciary Committee have been raising culture war issues this week against Brown Jackson including scrutinizing her work as a public defender, her work defending Guantanamo Bay detainees, and her rulings on child-pornography-related cases. Since Vice President Kamala Harris left her US Senate seat to join the administration, the Senate has not had a Black woman member.
Asked about the hearings, Demings said, "I know there are some senators who are there with their individual agendas. Some senators are trying to confirm the next Supreme Court justice, and there are some senators who have agendas that have nothing to do with confirming the next Supreme Court justice."
Ahead of and during this week's confirmation hearings Republicans have been trying to frame Brown Jackson as "soft" on crime. Similarly, Demings, who was a law enforcement officer for 27 years, has faced attacks from Republicans who tie all Democrats to the "defund the police" slogan that spread widely during protests against police brutality.
Centrist Democrats have complained that the slogan, supported by some progressives in the US House, has been lobbed successfully against members of their party during tight races. Demings is a former Progressive Caucus member who has rejected the rhetoric, saying she supports more funding for police.
Brown Jackson was born in Washington, DC, and grew up in Miami where Demings held an event on Tuesday at Jackson Memorial Hospital on healthcare affordability. If Demings is successful in unseating Rubio, she likely will have opportunities in the future to vote on Supreme Court nominees.
"I am Florida proud of Judge Brown Jackson," Demings said. "We say in America that you can work hard and you play by the rules you can be anything you want to be and do anything you want to do, have the opportunity to succeed. That is what she has done."
Rubio, who is not on the Judiciary Committee, does not appear to support Brown Jackson's nomination, saying after meeting her that the two have "starkly different understandings of the Constitution and the role of the Supreme Court."
Demings said she thought Brown Jackson was "prepared" for both "the good and the bad."
"I'm sure for her to get to this point has not been easy," she said, "and she is going to do what she needs to do as she always has. She has worked hard and she has earned the moment she is having right now."