'Judge Jackson is smarter than you': MSNBC panel bashes Josh Hawley for grandstanding at confirmation hearing

Monday featured the opening statements in the confirmation hearing of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who could be the first Black woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Republicans took aim at the judge, mostly on ideological issues that only tangentially related to Jackson.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), in particular, attempted to bring down the judge by saying that she gave light sentences to child predators. In reality, the sentences she has delivered to such convictions are in line with many other federal judges.

NBC News correspondent Yamiche Alcindor said that friends and colleagues of Jackson's say Hawley is "grasping for some reason to not vote for someone who is highly qualified."

"I even had a conservative judge who endorsed Judge Jackson tell me he's disturbed by the politics and he endorsed her to try to defuse some of these politics," Alcindor added.

RELATED: GOP's Marsha Blackburn asks Judge Jackson if she has a 'hidden agenda' to bring critical race theory to SCOTUS

She went on to say that Hawley is trying to smear Judge Jackson by associating her name along with words related to child exploitation.

"Critics would say there's some attention-getting there, that someone who wants to be president wants to get our attention," said Alcindor. "Republicans also understand they are dealing with a history-making candidate and also someone who actually has most of the votes that she needs to get through the court and to be able to get seated on the Supreme Court."

Alcindor also said that many of the Republicans simply don't have the judicial expertise to go up against Judge Jackson.

"This is not what this is about," Alcindor continued. "This is about political questions, [another judge] said, and that's why some folks see it as just sort of a theater where senators are going to come and try to make commercials essentially out of their questioning. That has been something that Republicans and Democrats, though, have been criticized of doing, I should say."

"Here's a not well-kept secret," said substitute host Alex Wagner. "Judge Jackson is smarter than you and by you, I mean everybody on the Judiciary [Committee]."

"That's what her friends told me," agreed Alcindor.

See the video discussion below:

Josh Hawleywww.youtube.com