DNC chair melts down over Tom Cotton's opposition to Ketanji Brown Jackson: 'Little, maggot-infested man'

Democratic National Committee Chairman Jamie Harrison had a meltdown on MSNBC Wednesday morning, calling Republican Sen. Tom Cotton a "little, maggot-infested man" because of the senator's comments in a speech opposing Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson.

In remarks on the Senate floor Tuesday, Cotton pointed to Jackson's record of lenient sentences in child porn cases as well as her time as a defense attorney. The Arkansas lawmaker suggested that Jackson "might have" defended Nazis during the Nuremberg trials.

“The last Judge Jackson left the Supreme Court to go to Nuremberg and prosecute the case against the Nazis,” Cotton said, referring to former Justice Robert H. Jackson, who was appointed chief counsel in the prosecution of Nazi war criminals.

"This Judge Jackson might have gone there to defend them,” he added.

Cotton also claimed that as an associate justice on the Supreme Court, Jackson would "coddle criminals and terrorists, and she will twist or ignore the law to reach the result she wants."

Cotton's comments were widely condemned by Democrats and the Anti-Defamation League, which said his remarks were "reprehensible."

The Wednesday panel on "Morning Joe" discussed Cotton's speech, with host Joe Scarborough slamming the senator for implying that as a former defense attorney, Jackson has a soft spot for criminals.

“She was doing what the Constitution of the United States guarantees every American, that lawyers will do, and that lawyers have done since the beginning of this republic,” Scarborough said. “He knows better. That’s what makes it so absolutely, positively shameful.”

Harrison, a guest on the panel, said that "in a Senate where there is Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Tom Cotton is the lowest of the low." He brought up how in 2014, Cotton blocked President Barack Obama's nominee to be ambassador to the Bahamas, Cassandra Butts, allegedly because Cotton knew Obama and Butts were friends.

The DNC chairman repeated a claim that Cotton had told Butts he was blocking her nomination because he wanted to "inflict special pain on the president." Cotton's office disputes that he said any such thing. After waiting more than 800 days, Butts died of leukemia before the Senate considered her nomination.

Harrison said that story "shows you who this little maggot-infested man is," then launched into a tirade against Cotton and the Republican Party.

"He does not deserve to have that pen. He doesn’t deserve to be in the United States Senate representing the good people of Arkansas," he said.

"He put his hand on the Bible, took an oath of office to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, and he uses it as a play toy. That is the Republican Party we see today. It is a party built on fraud, fear, and fascism. They don’t deserve to be in power. Not because Democrats should, but because they don’t deserve to be in power of this great nation."

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