Over the weekend, a second courageous woman came out with allegations of sexual assault by Judge Brett Kavanaugh, who is currently under consideration to become the next lifetime appointee to the U.S. Supreme Court. With two accusers, Christine Blasey Ford and Deborah Ramirez, the Senate Judiciary Committee must suspend its confirmation process.
This morning, President Trump doubled down on his support for Judge Kavanaugh, calling the allegations “totally political” and pledged to continue to support his nomination of Judge Kavanaugh. This isn’t the first time Trump has supported colleagues accused of reprehensible treatment toward women.
This also isn’t the first time Republicans in the U.S. Senate have continued to support a Supreme Court nominee accused of sexual misconduct. (In 1991, when Anita Hill came forward to share her experiences of sexual harassment by Clarence Thomas, she was savaged by a Senate Judiciary Committee that treated her as though she were the one who stood accused of wrongdoing.)
But this must be the last time that they think they can get away with it.
We can stop these hearings and this nomination, but we need absolutely everyone to speak out and make their voices heard. We’ve seen countless women share their stories about #WhyIDidntReport on Twitter this week. Yet, Trump and his supporters (and far too many other people in our country) continue to dismiss the voices of women. Enough is enough.
To be clear, these allegations aren’t the only thing to be concerned about with Judge Kavanaugh. His judicial record alone was enough to give incredible pause to his nomination. In addition, the confirmation process has been flawed from the start, with huge swaths of Kavanaugh’s record being withheld—it never should’ve started until his full record was released.
Republicans in the U.S. Senate must take these allegations seriously. They are directly relevant to determining Kavanaugh’s character and fitness for a lifetime appointment to our nation’s highest court. Indeed, how these allegations are handled present a crisis of legitimacy for the U.S. Supreme Court, itself.
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