IF THE SMEARS OF KETANJI BROWN JACKSON BACKFIRED, SOMEONE FORGOT TO TELL THE REPUBLICAN PARTY

Steve Benen tells us that GOP senator Josh Hawley made a terrible mistake.

Josh Hawley’s attempt to smear Ketanji Brown Jackson backfires

The Missouri Republican meant to make Judge Jackson look awful. He denigrated himself in the process.

... assurances about the GOP staying away from “the gutter” and approaching [Ketanji Brown] Jackson’s [Supreme Court] nomination in a “respectable” way look ridiculous in the wake of Sen. Josh Hawley’s attempted smear.

The Washington Post’s Ruth Marcus highlighted the Missouri Republican’s attack in her latest column:

How desperate can you get? This desperate: Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) is pushing the argument that Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson is dangerously soft on sex offenders, child pornographers in particular. “I’ve noticed an alarming pattern when it comes to Judge Jackson’s treatment of sex offenders, especially those preying on children,” Hawley tweeted. “I’m concerned that this [is] a record that endangers our children.”

... The Associated Press said the senator’s claims “don’t stand up to scrutiny.” Fact-check reports from the Washington Post and CNN came to the same conclusion.

... In National Review, a leading conservative publication, Andrew McCarthy concluded that Hawley’s allegation “appears meritless to the point of demagoguery.”

... In other words, the Republican went on the offensive, only to have the attack backfire.

The attack backfired! Boy, I bet Republicans' faces are red now!

Whoops! Apparently not:

MUST WATCH: Senator @HawleyMO runs through seven cases where Ketanji Brown Jackson was lenient on pedophiles, giving them sentences that were far below the federal guidelines. pic.twitter.com/9msrXDkJ9Z

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 21, 2022

WATCH: Senator @HawleyMO calls out Biden's White House for arguing child sex crime sentences are "too harsh."

"It's difficult...to argue that the sentencing guidelines are too harsh or outmoded, or that we should be somehow treating child porn offenders more leniently" pic.twitter.com/BSTQRc1Cea

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 21, 2022

Senator @VoteMarsha highlights Ketanji Brown Jackson’s leniency on “hardened criminals,” terrorists, and pedophiles.

“The American people deserve a Supreme Court justice with a documented commitment to the text of the Constitution and the rule of law.” pic.twitter.com/WqPdlvG6JW

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 21, 2022

Those are tweets from the Republican National Committee. The RNC is proud of these attacks. The RNC wants you to pay attention to them.

Benen writes:

I am, of course, mindful of the larger circumstances. Hawley is an ambitious far-right politician, eager to curry favor with some of the most radical elements of his party. In fact, as my MSNBC colleague Ja’han Jones explained very well last week, it’s probably not a coincidence that the Missouri senator’s ugly allegations “hew closely to claims we’ve heard from QAnon conspiracy theorists.”

But the Republican National Committee isn't among "the most radical elements" of the GOP. The Republican National Committee is the mainstream of the GOP.

But that's how the party operates. Of course it wants to appeal to QAnoners, while also maintaining the ability to deny that it's doing that. In the GOP, where does the mainstream end and radicalism begin? As Benen notes, Media Matters found the smear being spread by One America News and a QAnon forum called The Great Awakening, but also repeatedly by the supposedly mainstream Fox News.

Benen says that "by mainstream standards, Hawley’s attack backfired." It did nothing of the sort.