U.S. political history is chock full of memorable moments from confirmation hearings where either the nominee or a member of Congress participating in the proceedings says or does something that has the effect of rallying the troops to fight on for another day.
For instance, there was this classic clip from Clarence Thomas’ 1991 Supreme Court confirmation hearings, which some have dubbed his “never bend a knee” speech. In it, Thomas tells then-Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) that he’d “rather die than withdraw. If they’re gonna kill me they’re gonna kill me.” There was also the moment during Amy Coney Barrett’s 2020 SCOTUS confirmation hearings where she held up a blank notepad to show the “notes” she was going off of.
Though the confirmation hearings for Tennessee Valley Authority board of director nominees don’t usually get much attention and typically aren’t nearly as entertaining, one held this week for Biden TVA BOD nominee Beth Prichard Geer took a very interesting turn when Geer, who has been former Vice President Al Gore’s chief of staff since 2012, was being questioned by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa).
Ernst talked about written comments Geer has made about the need for civility and how she felt she was qualified to serve on the board of directors because of her supposed ability to “build relationships and work together.” When Ernst asked her about the comments, she confirmed she made them and reaffirmed her stance.
It was at that point that an Ernst staffer pulled out a floor chart that displayed a tweet in which Geer wrote “hideous” in response to a Fox News tweet that contained a photo of Ernst and a quote from her State of the Union response. Before we get to the video clip, below is the tweet from Fox News and the response from Geer at the time:
What did you think of @SenJoniErnst's #GOPresponse to #SOTU? #FoxNewsCHAT pic.twitter.com/6i715Q5Z3t
— Fox News (@FoxNews) January 21, 2015
Geer’s tweet is one that only her followers can see now because as I wrote this she locked down her account:
.@bpa65 has in the last few minutes locked down her account after Sen. Ernst confronted her over this mean girl tweet. LOL. pic.twitter.com/W8C6m4QzpP
— Sister Toldjah 😁 (@sistertoldjah) April 7, 2022
Watch the clip below where Ernst sets Geer up and then goes for the jugular:
I would have ✨died on the spot✨@SenJoniErnst just confronted a Biden nominee with a FLOORCHART of her 2015 tweet attacking Ernst’s physical appearance 😳💀 pic.twitter.com/Ysh51OUKar
— Lyndsey Fifield (@lyndseyfifield) April 6, 2022
Because it was such an embarrassing moment for Geer, some of her defenders have claimed she was calling Ernst’s quote from the Fox News tweet “hideous” but if you watch the clip she asks Ernst to read the tweet she was responding to and then promptly apologizes for offending her. She never denied it was about Ernst’s looks, so the defenses for Geer on that front don’t really hold any water.
This is one reason why I would never want to be nominated for any such government position, because I know I’ve got tweets that would come back to haunt me, some of which I would stand behind and some of which I would admit I could have worded better or perhaps shouldn’t have tweeted.
Though Geer’s “hideous” tweet is unlikely to keep her from being confirmed, it is yet another reminder for people to not post anything on social media that you don’t want used against you later in life, something former Biden OMB nominee Neera Tanden found out the hard way in 2021.
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