Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) blasted Senate Democrats on Twitter Monday morning for what he sees as obstructionist delays to confirming Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
Graham wrote that Democrats in the upper chamber lack are refusing to show Kavanaugh an "ounce of fairness" after the judge angrily denied allegations that he drunkenly tried to rape a woman during a party in high school.
"How would you react if somebody accused you being a sexual predator, a gang rapist, and a bumbling stumbling alcoholic?" Graham asked after Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) said she was "really stunned by how Brett Kavanaugh acted" at a Senate hearing last Thursday.
Graham then accused Democrats of wanting a "political outcome" by demanding an FBI investigation of the allegations. Democrats want to "keep this seat open and hope they win the midterms," Graham said. "Pathetic."
Graham is accusing Democrats of the exact same stunt Republicans pulled in 2016 with Merrick Garland, President Barack Obama's nominee to replace Justice Antonin Scalia. And it's not the first time he's done it, tweeting earlier this month:
"Requiring an FBI investigation of a 36-year-old allegation (without specific references to time or location) before Professor Ford will appear before the Judiciary Committee is not about finding the truth, but delaying the process till after the midterm elections.”
He added:
Less than a week later, Graham implied that Democrats were "coaching witnesses" to make Kavanaugh look bad.
Graham said the delays in Kavanaugh's confirmation process amount to "the total collapse of the traditional confirmation process for a Supreme Court nominee. It is being replaced by a game of delay, deception, and wholesale character assassination."
Really, Senator?
Obama nominated Garland but Republicans refused to hold hearings to consider Garland's nomination.
Naturally, Twitter went ballistic on Graham for his flagrant hypocrisy.
Graham and other Republicans also threatened to deny Hillary Clinton a Supreme Court pick if she were elected president.
Their excuse was that since 2016 was a presidential election year, the next president should get to pick Scalia's successor. Scalia died 10 months before the election, and the seat was left empty for more than a year until President Donald Trump tapped Neil Gorsuch to fill Scalia's seat. Gorsuch was confirmed with several Democratic votes.
Republicans were totally transparent in their obstruction of Garland.
“If Hillary Clinton becomes president, I am going to do everything I can do to make sure four years from now, we still got an opening on the Supreme Court,” Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) said in an audio recording in 2016.
Burr wasn’t alone.
“I promise you we will be united against any Supreme Court nominee that Hillary Clinton, if she were president, would put up,” Senator John McCain (R-AZ) said on the Senate floor in October 2016. “I promise you.”
Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) suggested having eight justices instead of nine was no big deal:
“There is certainly historical precedent for a Supreme Court with fewer justices. I would note, just recently, that Justice Breyer observed that the vacancy is not impacting the ability of the court to do its job.”
Graham drew the ire of social media, and it was brutal.
Some called Graham "pathetic."
Why is Graham not interested in the truth? If Kavanaugh is innocent, an investigation could prove that.
Kavanaugh's aggressive behavior at the hearing has also raised eyebrows.
Let's not forget this gem, either.
On Friday, Republican leadership in the Senate along with the White House agreed to a "limited in scope" investigation by the FBI. On Monday, Trump said he was "open-minded" and will accept the findings of the FBI, but would not say if he had a "plan B" if Kavanaugh's nomination falls through.
@kileywrestling/Bluesky
