Obama calls criticism of Sotomayor ‘nonsense’

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama called criticism of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor “nonsense” Friday, telling NBC News that while Sotomayor would probably rephrase her eight-year-old comments on race, she would be “a good judge.”

In an exclusive interview with Brian Williams, anchor of “NBC Nightly News,” Obama said it was important to look at “the entire scope” of Sotomayor’s comments in a speech in 2001 at the University of California Law School.

Sotomayor, a U.S. district judge in New York whom Obama nominated to replace Justice David Souter on the Supreme Court this week, said a “wise Latina woman” with her experiences would more often than not reach a “better conclusion” than a white male.

Critics pounced on the comments as evidence that Sotomayor would be an “activist” judge, but Obama said her comments made it clear that she was “the exact opposite.”

“I’m sure she would have restated it,” the president said. “But if you look in the entire sweep of the essay that she wrote, what’s clear is that she was simply saying that her life experiences will give her information about the struggles and hardships that people are going through.

“That will make her a good judge,” Obama said in the interview, which will air in its entirety next week in a two-part NBC News special on life in the White House.

'Right choice,' Obama says in address
The president also addressed the issue in his weekly radio and Internet address.

"I am certain that she is the right choice," the president said, scolding critics who he said were trying to distort her record and past statements. Those include her 2001 comment that a female Hispanic judge would often reach a better decision than a white male judge.

With the Senate returning next week from recess, Obama said he hopes it begins the confirmation process without delay and he expects his nominee to be on the bench when the Supreme Court begins its new term in October.

Video   Obama defends Sotomayor nomination May 30: The president takes on Sonia Sotomayor's critics in his weekly radio and Internet address. MSNBC

In the interim, Obama said he expects "rigorous evaluation" of his nominee but added: "What I hope is that we can avoid the political posturing and ideological brinksmanship that has bogged down this process, and Congress, in the past."

He derided "some in Washington who are attempting to draw old battle lines and playing the usual political games, pulling a few comments out of context to paint a distorted picture of Judge Sotomayor's record."

"But I am confident that these efforts will fail," Obama added, "because Judge Sotomayor's 17-year record on the bench — hundreds of judicial decisions that every American can read for him or herself — speak far louder than any attack; her record makes clear that she is fair, unbiased and dedicated to the rule of law."

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