Wednesday’s set of “Morning Joe” was largely unsympathetic to news that Brett Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey Ford was looking to delay offering sworn testimony until an FBI investigation could review her accusations.
Co-host Mika Brzezinski — a frequent champion of MeToo causes — said Republicans would have no choice but to call for a vote if Ford did not speak on Monday.
“If she doesn’t want to speak, if she doesn’t want to testify, you have to wonder what the Republicans are supposed to do except demand a vote,” said Brzezinski. “This is something that happened in high school. This is going to need her voice. There’s no other way around it. No one can do it for her. As miserable as that may be.”
“This is what Me Too is all about,” she added. “Nobody wants to be on the wrong side of this. So everyone said let her speak, let her testify. Give her a moment to have her voice. Let’s hear her story.”
Kavanaugh had been on track for a smooth — if partisan — nomination to the Supreme Court until Ford went public with a detailed sexual assault allegation against him in the Washington Post on Sunday. In her accusation, Ford said Kavanaugh assaulted her while drunk at a high school party in the early 1980s.
Kavanaugh has categorically denied the allegation, but the Republican-controlled Senate judiciary committee was spooked enough to delay a planned vote on his nomination this week in order to allow both Kavanaugh and Ford to offer additional testimony on Monday. That plan was thrown into turmoil after Ford’s lawyer said this week that her client wanted to avoid a hearing until an FBI investigation into her claims could be completed.
So far, the White House has remained steadfastly behind Kavanaugh, with the president telling reporters Tuesday that “this is not a man who deserves this” and reminding his followers on Twitter about how important his election is to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court is one of the main reasons I got elected President. I hope Republican Voters, and others, are watching, and studying, the Democrats Playbook.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 19, 2018