On Monday in New York, President Donald Trump dismissed the second allegation of sexual misconduct against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh as “totally political.”
That’s in keeping with what appears to be the White House’s pushback against Deborah Ramirez, a former Yale University classmate of Kavanaugh, who has alleged that the Supreme Court nominee exposed himself and put his genitals very close to her during a drunken party in their freshman year. White House counsel Kellyanne Conway said in an interview with CBS on Monday morning that the allegations against Kavanuagh are “starting to feel like a vast left-wing conspiracy.”
And Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell went off on Democrats Monday afternoon, accusing them of conducting a “shameful, shameful smear campaign.”
Even Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, mounted an aggressive defense of himself on Monday, vowing to fight the “smears” and declaring that he will not withdraw his nomination.
With President Trump publicly backing him, and senior Senate Republicans closing ranks around him, Judge Kavanaugh — joined by his wife, Ashley Estes Kavanaugh — gave an extraordinary interview to Fox News that aired Monday evening. He pledged to “defend my integrity, my lifelong record,” and told his interviewer, Martha MacCallum, that he “did not have sexual intercourse or anything close to sexual intercourse in high school or for many years thereafter.”
He also directly addressed the accusation from Christine Blasey Ford, a research psychologist in Northern California, that he had assaulted her when they were teenagers, more than 30 years ago, at a high school gathering in suburban Washington.
“The truth is I’ve never sexually assaulted anyone, in high school or otherwise,” Judge Kavanaugh said. “I am not questioning and have not questioned that perhaps Dr. Ford at some point in her life was sexually assaulted by someone at some place, but what I know is I’ve never sexually assaulted anyone.”
Meanwhile survivors of sexual assault and their supporters stood shoulder to shoulder on the steps of New York’s City Hall on Monday, holding signs that read “I believe Christine,” “Misogyny bores me” and “Block InJustice Kavanaugh.”
In Washington, over 100 protesters were arrested after gathering in front of the Supreme Court and inside Senate office buildings.
They were part of a series of protests across the country to show solidarity with Christine Blasey Ford and Deborah Ramirez, women who have publicly accused Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, of sexual misconduct.
