SOUTHAVEN, Miss. — President Trump mocked the account of a woman who accused Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh of assault and told a Mississippi crowd that the #MeToo movement was unfairly hurting men.
Trump, in a riff that has been dreaded by White House and Senate aides, attacked the story of Christine Blasey Ford at length — drawing laughs from the crowd. The remarks were his strongest attacks yet of her testimony.
“ ‘I don’t know. I don’t know.’ ‘Upstairs? Downstairs? Where was it?’ ‘I don’t know. But I had one beer. That’s the only thing I remember,’ ” Trump said of Ford, as he impersonated her on stage.
“I don’t remember,” he said repeatedly, apparently mocking her testimony.
Ford has said the incident happened in an upstairs room and that she is “100 percent” certain it was Kavanaugh who assaulted her, although she has acknowledged that her memories of other details of the evening remain unclear.
Trump then told the crowd that men were going to be fired from their jobs after being unfairly accused of sexual harassment. Trump himself has been accused of harassment by many women and has been caught on tape bragging about groping women.
“Think of your husbands. Think of your sons,” Trump told the crowd.
He said that Kavanaugh’s life was “in tatters” and urged the crowd to think about his family. And in an apparent swipe at all of Kavanaugh’s accusers, he declared: “These are really evil people.”
In a tweet after the rally, Michael Bromwich, an attorney for Ford, called Trump’s remarks “a vicious, vile and soulless attack” on his client.
“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,” Bromwich said.
I have heard for weeks the question asked, “why is she coming forward now?” Well, that should become more and more obvious. I know existentially why young women don’t come forward. You don’t because the blame for any incident of sexual impropriety will be placed on the girl. Why were you there, why were you drinking, what were you wearing, what did you say…? The accusations go on. Most of us knew just to keep quiet. However, in our silence, what behaviors have we aided and abetted?
For the President of the United States of America to stand before a crowd of hooting, cheering people and mock and trivialize a victim of sexual assault is simply unconscionable. This is not my America any longer. The President of the United States is an admitted sex abuser. He has been caught on audio admitting that he likes to “grab them by the p****.” What more was needed to cast aspersions on this man’s character, when you hear it with your own ears? The President of the United States has also paid off a born star with whom he had a fling. He paid her off for her silence so we the people didn’t find out about his trashy behavior.
But we did find out about his behaviors. My problem is, and will remain, that apparently it doesn’t matter unless we are aiming our convenient, situational moral outrage at someone like Bill Clinton, or the local porn shop. Don’t dare touch the morally and ethically corrupt person that so many people threw in to office. Don’t dare point a finger at someone who we think will make our political dreams come true.
Don’t talk to me about morality, ethics or anything like that. According to the President of the United States, sexual assault just must not happen. It must be a figment of our weak-willed, overly feminine imaginations. Silly girls. Boys will be boys.
Shame on Donald Trump and shame on anyone who cheered him or places Brett Kavanaugh’s word over Christine Ford’s word without a thorough FBI investigation. Yes, Dr. Ford is a profile in courage. Donald Trump has been and remains a profile in cowardice.
Cowards will not prevail. November 6 will be a day of reckoning.
I made the mistake of believing, or at least hoping, that 45 had turned a corner, answering most questions “the right way”, but like everyone, who pretends to be something they are not, the true self comes out.
I have not one shred of hope for 45. He’s just not a good person.
This sorry nominating process is making Pence look brilliant for avoiding being alone with women who are not his wife. The unfortunate lesson that might result is that many ambitious men may choose to adopt the Pence strategy to avoid the possibility of being falsely accused of sexual assault or harassment. This could cost women the opportunity to be mentored by successful, experienced men who are leaders in their field.
I plan to have a discussion with my son about avoiding situations that could leave him vulnerable to false accusations.
Or perhaps those women could be mentored by successful, experienced women who are leaders in their field.
Actually, I am speechless that so many men, many with R after their names, are throwing out the family values and jump immediately to assuming that little Rich Boy was falsely accused. If my father had any idea how many boys from “good families” I had to bust in the chops, he would be amazed.
I would suggest that you have a discussion with your daughter. I bet you might learn a thing or two. I think the discussion with your son is a good idea also but not just because of false accusations–but because I think young men are often confused about expected behavior. They need frank, open discussions with their fathers or other male role models. Behavior is especially sketchy when alcohol or drugs are involved.
I firmly believe Ms. Ford’s story. While I am not ready to flush men for adolescent stupidity, I am perfectly willing to do it when I see that same petulant behavior surface in a 50 year old. Kavanaugh appeared to onlly 3 beers away from being a mean drunk. There was so much he could have said that would have made me support him.
Finally, as long as we have that pig in the White House, I will continue to worry about men. The “president” is a poor role model.
I think Kavanaugh is likely to be confirmed today, but will not believe it until I see it.
The emergence of Blasey Ford in the last hours of the confirmation process was just too cute by a mile. Her story had a thousand holes in it and looked to be a setup from the very beginning. I do not believe her.
Family values include taking care of both boys and girls. There have been too many fake reports of sexual assault to believe Blasey Ford without corroboration.
This hysteria started over the possibility that Kavanaugh will be the fifth vote to overturn Roe vs. Wade. But Trump had to name someone that could get the support of Susan Collins. Kavanaugh is a moderate that upheld Obamacare and stated that Supreme Court precedents should be overturned only in the most extraordinary cases. You should read yesterday’s statement from Susan Collins. Over the long term, this guy is unlikely to make conservatives all that happy.
I did hear Susan Collins. I do not see Kavanaugh as a moderate. A moderate would not have the paper trail on Roe v Wade that he does. That is a concern–that he will vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. If you believe that women are capable of making their own morally appropriate decisions, then this would be a huge issue to you.
You say there have been too many fake reports of sexual assault. Yes, there are fake reports. However, compared to actual assaults–real ones, fake reports are minuscule. I believe that boys and girls should both be protected.
I believe every word Christine Blasey Ford said. I could have almost predicted her words before she said them through part of her testimony. Been there. done that. She actually began trying to tell someone before Kavanaugh was ever chosen. Maybe its just difficult for decent men to see what some of their gender are capable of. Trust me, there are some real pigs out there. Do I think that change is possible? Do I think that adolescent boys grow up and learn to respect women and other men? Sure. Most, but not all do.
What I saw from Kavanaugh though was alarming. I saw someone who was 3 beers away from being a mean drunk. I also have some personal experience with that concept also.
I guess he will be confirmed. If Roe is overturned, I expect women will be so furious that it will be codified. Perhaps that is best.
I think this Op-Ed sums up the situation quite succinctly:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2018/10/08/christine-blasey-ford-women-democrats-partisan-brett-kavanaugh-voters-column/1559347002/
I guess that means there will be a crowd at the polls then. Everyone has an opinion. What has gotten lost is the facts. Facts are rarely provable in situations like that. I continue to believe Dr. Ford. I believe Kavanaugh’s own demeanor was his worst enemy.
I guess what I think should be the topic and issue, since neither of us can prove Jack Sh!t is how far should we go back in a person’s life? What measures should we use to keep a person from a job they want? What “crimes” or behaviors should be used as indicators–drugs use? sexual assault? violence? computer crimes? Kavanaugh’s tenure on the Supreme Court will always be tainted. Was it worth it? I believe that the Right would say yes.
I say in the long run, probably not. Time will tell. Sex assaults are usually he said/she said and most are unprovable. The language and rhetoric I heard out of people was far more damaging as far as I am concerned. The language highlighted, once again, a horrible hypocrisy, mostly out of, once again, Old White Men. The OWM syndrome will be what really gets the R’s in the long run.
Most women have suffered some sort of sexual assault in their lives. This confirmation process basically sent a message to those women that trivializes their experiences. That was a dangerous thing to do.
I was watching “Impulse”, an original YouTube drama/sci fi series. The main character is a teenage girl who gets sexually assaulted in one scene. In a car, in a secluded area, no one could hear her screams, the guy was maybe twice her size, she was helpless. Seeing that helped me to understand how traumatic it is. In the story, the girl gets away by teleporting (like I said, it was sci fi), but still…
Helps me to understand why victims are so traumatized.
I think that the terrorizing part for people whether you think you are going to die or not. Dr Ford felt she was going to die because she couldn’t breathe. (she was careful to say accidentally killed) If a stranger jumps out of the bushes at you…well, if it were I, I would assume I had better fight for my life or I was going to die. I am thinking of Hannah Graham as I type this. Unfortunately, many people don’t survive this sort of assault.
Then there is the part where it is none of that—it is just ewwww and yuck because someone has violated your personal space without your permission.
One more thing, El Guapo, that I found disturbing–many adults have come forward and said that they were sexually abused as a child by people in the religious community. I certainly don’t think that those adults have to go through the same burden of proof that Dr. Ford was put through. No one wanted throw Kavanaugh in jail. In the case of the abused children–there is much they don’t remember. The religious people (I dont want to single out priests) often face very serious consequences, far beyond just not getting a promotion.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2000/07/28/md-judge-finds-girl-fabricated-abuse-by-teacher/a9203e07-b043-4103-931e-49b87483500d/?utm_term=.fce667558e13
Not the same case. A very similar case happened over in Centreville, probably within the past 5 years. Those kinds of lies destroy careers. On the other hand, some teachers do get inappropriately with students. How do we sort it all out? No easy answers.
MoonHowler,
Regarding being sexually assaulted in a religious setting, there was a guy in our community. Life Church? Have you seen the car magnets for Life Church? The preacher’s son did not make any contact, but he did act inappropriately enough to get him some jail time. He was the golden boy, pastor’s son, sang with the Jonas Brothers (although I wouldn’t admit that), youth pastor, married with a happy suburban American family
The victim was 16 at the time. She had been going to that church most of her life. All her friends were there. But when she reported the inappropriate behavior, she was basically shunned.
He did get jail time, and another victim came forward this past August.
I always feel compelled to NOT throw my remarks directly at priests. There are certainly others in positions of authority in other religions who violate this trust. I read about that young man. What was he thinking? Was he using drugs or alcohol to excess? Do people get high on power? I have often wondered if people like that just think way too much about sex under that great umbrella of sin, until they loose touch with the reality of what sin really is. I just don’t know.