You have to wonder if there if there’s a method behind the madness. Why would Donald Trump mock Christine Blasey Ford? Here are some thoughts:
*Trump has given up on Kavanaugh and has decided to say whatever he wants.
*Trump (or some faction in the GOP) has decided standing by Kavanaugh and attacking his accuser will rally the Republican base and somehow thwart a probable Democratic “blue wave” next month.
*The President was upset over the New York Times piece that makes him out to be a fraud and a con so he vented about Dr. Ford.
*Trump just vented as he is prone to do.
Whatever the motivation, two key GOP Senators, who could swing the vote for or against Brett Kavanaugh, are calling the comments “appalling” and “wrong.”
“There’s no time and no place for remarks like that. But to discuss something this sensitive at a political rally is just not right…It’s kind of appalling.” @JeffFlake on President Trump’s comments about Dr. Ford at a rally last night pic.twitter.com/6SaTLZK899
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) October 3, 2018
Susan Collins: "The president's comments were just plain wrong." https://t.co/tP5ZSXHoGE pic.twitter.com/1E3gERCKIw
— The Hill (@thehill) October 3, 2018
One of Christine Blasey Ford’s attorneys also has some strong words about what Trump said.
A vicious, vile and soulless attack on Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. Is it any wonder that she was terrified to come forward, and that other sexual assault survivors are as well? She is a remarkable profile in courage. He is a profile in cowardice. https://t.co/UJ0bGxV1EZ
— Michael R. Bromwich (@mrbromwich) October 3, 2018
Even Kavanaugh and Trump’s closest allies weren’t happy with the remark.
“There’s a lot of time expiration in memory here. I think it would have been better left unsaid,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, a strong GOP defender of Kavanaugh’s.
Senator Lindsey Graham has arguably been most outspoken in his defense of Kavanaugh. Today while speaking at The Atlantic Festival in DC he received boos for the way he responded to Trump’s comments.
"I don't like what the president said last night," Sen. Lindsey Graham says about Pres. Trump's mockery of Dr. Ford at a rally.
Booed by the audience when he says Kavanaugh "was treated like crap," Graham responds, "Yeah, well boo yourself." https://t.co/03Z8GCYmx6 pic.twitter.com/WqrTvSEZhn
— ABC News (@ABC) October 3, 2018
Here’s what Conservative commentator Linda Chavez had to say.
"Brett Kavanaugh's chances of being confirmed are lower today than they were yesterday as a result of President Trump," says former Reagan White House official Linda Chavez, who calls Trump's tone last night "disgusting." https://t.co/9P18Ux5P0F pic.twitter.com/1G7FasBn7i
— CNN (@CNN) October 3, 2018
Trump’s comments sure aren’t swaying Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell though. Today he said the vote on Kavanaugh is still happening this week and he seems upset that he and his colleagues have to face protestors on the way to work.
Imagine thinking that telling the survivors begging you not to put another abuser on our nation’s highest court that you “won’t be intimidated by them” is a strong and honorable stance.
It is WE who won’t be intimidated by YOU, @senatemajldr. You can’t silence us anymore. https://t.co/A3yK5JXNE1
— Sophie Ellman-Golan (@EgSophie) October 3, 2018
Meanwhile, McConnell’s counterpart in the Senate, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says Trump owes Ford an apology.
Sen. Schumer says President Trump owes Dr. Ford "an immediate apology."
"President Trump's outright mockery of a sexual assault survivor … was reprehensible, beneath the office of the Presidency and beneath common decency from one person to another." https://t.co/MRTORL6isV pic.twitter.com/FiHJwFkZzs
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) October 3, 2018
