Watch the interview so painful it sunk a federal judicial nominee
We’ve all had bad job interviews—the kind where you get stuck on basic questions about the kind of work you’re meant to do or the reasons why you’re so passionate about pursuing a career in a field you couldn’t give less of a shit about.
Not many of us, though, are likely to have our failed interviews take place on as public a stage as a Senate hearing. And yet, this is exactly what Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse has shared in this marvelously uncomfortable clip of former US District Court judge nominee Matthew Spencer Petersen failing to adequately answer some very simple questions about the job he was inexplicably being considered for.
Watch on to understand why it isn’t much of a surprise that Petersen withdrew from the nomination shortly after his appearance.
Try not to wince as Petersen, like a sad slug sprinkled with salt, wilts under the attention of people, like question-asker Senator John Kennedy, who had to assess whether he was in any way appropriate for a very important position.
“Have you ever tried a jury trial?”
“I have not.”
“Civil?”
“No.”