President Donald Trump’s nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court has wrought fault lines across the American political landscape. South Carolina Republican and member of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Lindsey Graham is on the opposite side from many, many Americans in this tension, and that became clear yet again this week at The Atlantic Festival.
Speaking with the publication’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, the issue came up of Trump’s ridicule of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, a woman credibly accusing Kavanaugh of sexual assault. Tuesday night in a rally speech, he dragged her name through the mud for her difficulty in piecing together some of the background detail associated with her account.
Graham quipped in response:
‘I don’t like what the president said last night. I’m the first person to say, ‘I want to hear from Dr. Ford.’ I thought she was handled respectfully. I thought Kavanaugh was treated like crap.’
His attempt to tread that middle line between believing Dr. Ford and angrily sticking up for Kavanaugh drew boos from the crowd, to which he responded:
‘Yeah, well, boo yourself.’
Goldberg also chimed in, admonishing the crowd to stay quiet so the two’s conversation could proceed unimpeded.
Watch below.
Graham has sought to stick up for Kavanaugh time and time again since the issue of his claimed sexual misconduct has emerged in the national political conversation.
During a recent hearing featuring the judge and Ford, he ranted and raved about the supposedly hellish process the SCOTUS nominee has been subjected to. During his conversation this week with Goldberg, he explained that he was set off at the notion that Kavanaugh should find no issue with an FBI investigation if he’s innocent — because apparently, to Graham, seeking such an investigation makes the United States government like the overbearing Soviet government — or something.
Over both Graham and Kavanaugh’s wishes, a renewed FBI investigation got underway this past week into the accusations against the judge, and it will be concluding shortly. A vote on Kavanaugh’s confirmation will soon follow; for the record, Arizona Republican (and U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee member) Jeff Flake said he wouldn’t agree to even voting until the FBI report is complete.
Featured Image via Screenshot from the Video
