Al Franken jokes with Elena Kagan: Did he play a lawyer on TV?

WASHINGTON–Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan paid a courtesy call on Tuesday to Sen. Al Franken (D-Mn.), the former comic who joined the Senate just in time for the confirmation hearings of Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Franken used that to riff with Kagan during a photo op before their meeting on Tuesday.

Sotomayor broke her ankle just after she was nominated, so Franken told Kagan,” So you’re doing much better than her.”

He added, ” Yeah. Yeah. Doing much better than her.

And it was very strange for me, because I had actually watched, I think, every confirmation hearing that had ever been televised, not the whole thing, just a little bit, you know. And so here I was going to be — so to me, it was, like, a really big deal, as I can imagine it’s, like, going to be a big deal for..”

Said Kagan, “But now it’s sort of –”

Franken said, “Now it’s just old hat. …. But also, I’m not a lawyer, as you might know.”

Let’s pick up the transcript from here….

MS. KAGAN: I didn’t know that, actually.

SEN. FRANKEN: You didn’t?

MS. KAGAN: I didn’t. You played one on TV.

SEN. FRANKEN: I played one in a sketch. (Laughs.)

SEN. KAGAN: (Laughs.)

SEN. FRANKEN: But not in a — not even in a recurring series, you know.

Q (Off mike.)

STAFF: Thanks, guys, let’s go.

SEN. FRANKEN: So, you know, my — (inaudible) — to ask questions almost as a proxy for people who aren’t lawyers.

MS. KAGAN: Real people.

SEN. FRANKEN: Huh?

MS. KAGAN: Real people.

SEN. FRANKEN: Real people.

STAFF: Let’s go, guys.

SEN. FRANKEN: And I kind of thought that the —

STAFF: Guys?