CNN

WASHINGTON (CNN) - A key Republican senator asserted Tuesday that a political double standard has been at play in the handling of Judge Sonia Sotomayor's controversial assertion that a Latina judge would "more often than not" be superior to a while male judge.

"If I had said anything like that, and my reasoning was I was trying to inspire somebody, (political opponents) would have had my head," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina.

Graham made his remarks during the second day of the Senate Judiciary Committee's hearing on Sotomayor's Supreme Court nomination.

Graham was referencing a speech made by Sotomayor in 2001 at the University of California, Berkeley, in which she said, "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."

Sotomayor has indicated that she made the remark, in part, to help provide encouragement to minority law students.

Graham, who is white, argued that if he ran for office against a candidate who was a member of a racial minority and trumpeted the value of his racial or ethnic background "it would make national news and it should."

Sotomayor hinted that her remarks had been taken out of context.

"I would hope we've come (to the point) in America," she said, where such a remark could be considered "in the context of a person's life."