It was tremendously hard to stomach just how low Donald Trump was willing to go during the confirmation process of his own personal servant on the Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh. Even Americans who watched breathlessly as recordings of Trump bragging about sexually assaulting women were played during his campaign, video of him mercilessly mocking a disabled reporter, transcript after transcript of him calling for violence against his political enemies at his rallies, were absolutely appalled at the depravity required of the President to openly mock and mimic a victim of sexual assault in front of a crowd, encouraging them to laugh along with him at her pain.
But as hard as it is for any person with a soul to watch something so despicable, one imagines it must have been doubly difficult for the actual woman he was making fun of. To imagine that one day, the pain and humiliation she suffered at the hands of drunken frat boys would become part of a national dialogue is unthinkable enough — to imagine that the President of the United States would make fun of you in front of a crowd of thousands over it… Well, pardon my language, but that’s some Carrie-level shit right there.
And the fact is, the Republicans, right along with Trump, have actually done irreparable harm to the psyche of the nation by condoning and accepting this. If you think about what Susan Collins herself has done — somehow defined “corroboration” as the requirement that someone accused of rape admit to it, or that there be actual eyewitnesses in the room as it happens — the GOP has pushed women’s rights and advancements in the understanding of rape culture back decades.
MSNBC’s Kasie Hunt sat down with Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s lawyers, Debra Katz and Lisa Banks, and asked them how Dr. Ford was doing, and how she reacted to Trump’s mockery. Although their answers might not surprise you, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t share the video of those answers with your right-wing relatives.
Go ahead and see if the people in your life are capable of empathizing with a victim, rather than simply celebrating a political win.
Featured image via screen capture
