Speaking at a rally in Mississippi last night, President Donald Trump openly mocked Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, the Stanford University professor who alleges Brett Kavanaugh, his Supreme Court nominee, sexually assaulted her at a party in high school.
The president sought to poke holes in Dr. Ford's account, by acting out parts from last week's hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
"I had one beer!" Trump said, characterizing Ford's testimony about her level of intoxication at the time of the attack.
"How did you get home?" the president asked, taking on the role of prosecutor.
"I don't remember," he said in his Ford voice.
"How did you get there?" Trump continued, reverting to his role as prosecutor.
"I don't remember," he replied in the Ford voice.
The president then mockingly asked and answered a series of questions with the responses "I don't remember" and "I don't know." The crowd laughed and cheered behind him. A woman seated behind him held up a bright pink "Women for Trump" sign.
The president's behavior was savaged in a response from Michael R. Bromwich, a former Department of Justice official who now represents Dr. Ford.
The president's comments constitute "A vicious, vile and soulless attack on Dr. Ford" Bromwich said, in part.
Others also weighed in, noting the "open contempt" the president showed Dr. Ford. Trump himself has been accused of sexual assault by at least 14 women; his behavior has been intensely scrutinized in light of numerous lawsuits filed against him and the existence of an "Access Hollywood" recording from 2005 in which he bragged openly about grabbing women "by the pussy."
Politicians from both sides of the aisle also condemned the president.
Senator Jeff Flake, (R-AZ), who sided with his Democratic colleagues who sought a one-week delay on Kavanaugh's confirmation to allow an FBI investigation to proceed, called Trump's comments "appalling."
"There’s no time and no place for remarks like that," Flake said in an interview with NBC's "Today." To discuss something this sensitive at a political rally is just not right. I wish he hadn't done it."
Senator Kamala Harris, (D-CA), who questioned Kavanaugh in her capacity as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, called Dr. Ford "a profile in courage."
Senator Mazie Hirono, (D-HI), expressed her lack of faith in the president, saying: "We can always count on the President to go down to the lowest common denominator, mock people, call people names, attack them."
The president's comments were especially jarring because although he had questioned the veracity of Dr. Ford's account, he had appeared to apply restraint, at one point referring to her as a "credible witness."
Last week, the president fired back at reports that he and his administration are limiting the scope of the FBI’s investigation into the sexual misconduct allegations leveled at Kavanaugh.
Despite this, during a press conference held to announce a new trade deal with Canada and Mexico, Trump did say that it “wouldn’t bother me” if FBI investigators talked with all three women who have leveled allegations against his nominee. He did stress, however, that the bureau must “go quickly” because Kavanaugh has “been treated horribly” and he’s been the victim of a “very unfair” process.
“What his wife is going through,” Trump said. “What his beautiful children are going through is not describable. It’s not fair.”
He added: “This is our seventh investigation of a man who has really––you look at his life, until this happened, what a change he’s gone through. The trauma for a man who has never had any accusations. So I want the FBI, this is now the seventh investigation. It’s not like they are just starting. I want them to do a very comprehensive investigation.”
Other comments Trump made appeared to go further than Kavanaugh’s public statements on the matter.
Kavanaugh has vehemently denied that he ever imbibed too heavily or that he ever drank to the point of “blacking out.” But speaking of his nominee, Trump said, “He’s had a little bit of difficulty. He talked about things that happened when he drank.”
When asked about concerns that Kavanaugh had mischaracterized his drinking, Trump said, “I watched him. I was surprised at how vocal he was about the fact that he likes beer … This is not a man that said that he was perfect with respect to alcohol.”
Several of Kavanaugh’s Yale classmates have come forward to say that Kavanaugh was not truthful about his drinking. The most recent, Chad Ludington, is now cooperating with the FBI.
“I can unequivocally say that in denying the possibility that he ever blacked out from drinking, and in downplaying the degree and frequency of his drinking, Brett has not told the truth,” Ludington said in a statement to CNN.
In a full statement published in The New York Times, Ludington said that Kavanaugh was “a frequent drinker, and a heavy drinker” who was “belligerent and aggressive” while drinking.
“On one of the last occasions I purposely socialized with Brett, I witnessed him respond to a semi-hostile remark, not by defusing the situation, but by throwing his beer in the man’s face and starting a fight that ended with one of our mutual friends in jail,” he said.
Authorities have already begun to investigate that incident, which took place at a Connecticut bar in 1985. In the New Haven, Connecticut, police department report, a man named Dom Cozzolino said Kavanaugh had thrown ice on him. Cozzolino also said that Kavanaugh's friend Chris Dudley had thrown a glass that hit him on the ear.
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