Reprinted with permission from Shareblue.
Facing pressure over his Supreme Court nominee being accused of sexual assault, Trump on Wednesday decided to baselessly accuse Senate Democrats of setting up a “witch hunt” against Brett Kavanaugh.
Trump’s comments suggest he may be preparing to wage an ugly war against Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, the woman accusing Kavanaugh of violently attempting to rape her at a party when she was 15 and he was 17.
While Trump managed to avoid directly smearing Ford herself, he also said Democrats are trying to “make up a lot of stuff” about Kavanaugh — strongly suggesting that he thinks Ford’s story isn’t true.
“This is no different than the Russian witch hunt,” Trump said of Senate Democrats in an interview released Wednesday. “[T]hey make up a lot of stuff and try and obstruct and resist. Because you know I’ve always, I’ve always said that the Russia hoax was an excuse for them losing the election.”
Trump is attempting to equate Ford’s very credible claims against Kavanaugh with the demented “deep state” conspiracy theories Trump has been pushing for the last year to try to discredit the investigation into his campaign’s ties to Russia.
In the same interview, Trump claimed he did at least want to hear from Ford. “I don’t want to comment on her until I see her,” he said.
But Trump also told reporters on Wednesday he strongly doubts there’s any truth to her claim of an alleged sexual assault. “Very hard for me to imagine that anything happened,” he said.
Kavanaugh’s nomination already enjoyed zero bipartisan public support among U.S. Senators, and he’s deeply unpopular with the public. Just 31 percent of Americans support Kavanaugh’s confirmation.
In historical context, that’s astonishingly low for a Supreme Court nominee. When Harriet Miers had to withdraw her doomed nomination in 2005, she enjoyed 42 percent public support for her confirmation.
Many Republicans are worried that the allegations against Kavanaugh could hurt them, and rightfully so. But the GOP is still scrambling to figure out a way to ram through the confirmation anyway.
On Tuesday, Ford requested to have the FBI investigate her claim before she agrees to testify in front of Congress.
“A full investigation by law enforcement officials will ensure that the crucial facts and witnesses in this matter are assessed in a non-partisan manner,” Ford’s attorneys, Debra Katz and Lisa Banks, wrote in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Many Republicans and their conservative allies in the press have already begun a full-on smear campaign against Ford.
Radio host Laura Ingraham demanded to know how the allegation of a sexual assault is “relevant to whether [Kavanaugh] is qualified to sit on the Supreme Court?” She even suggested that Ford’s “former boyfriends” be contacted.
Trump might think he’s helping Kavanaugh by comparing this scandal to the Russia investigation and calling it a “witch hunt.” But that investigation has already produced 32 indictments or convictions — and only time can tell how an investigation into Kavanaugh’s alleged assault would play out.
Published with permission of The American Independent.
