As Christine Blasey Ford took her seat at a table in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee today to answer questions regarding her allegations of sexual assault against Brett Kavanaugh, I was not working under any pretense that she would be treated fairly by the Republican senators, every one of them male and quite a few well past the age of 60. History (see: Hill, Anita) and the members’ own reluctance to allow an FBI investigation into Blasey Ford’s claims were evidence enough.
Before today’s hearings even began, Blasey Ford had been referred to as “mixed up” by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and he bookended that dismissive comment by calling her “pleasing” and an “attractive witness” after her testimony today.
As today’s proceedings went on, that low hum of condescension grew louder and louder.
To see how these Republican men conducted themselves in real-time blinded me with the kind of rage I haven’t felt since Donald Trump loomed menacingly behind Hillary Clinton during that presidential debate back in 2016. The contempt for women was, to me, on full display and indicative of a type of behavior that we see from the right too often.
From the moment Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), an 85-year-old, began his opening statement, it was clear he was irritated to be holding this hearing in the first place. The man was feeling ornery—and he was about to let everybody know it.
PHOTO: Bloomberg
Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee
After apologizing to both Blasey Ford and Kavanaugh, he launched into a winding rant that blamed the Democrats and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), for how Blasey Ford’s confidential letter was handled. (For her part, Blasey Ford has said that Feinstein followed her wishes, not releasing her name and keeping the allegations from the public.)
These women, Grassley seemed to imply, had gotten in the way of a nomination that he’d planned to push through smoothly—and you could hear the anger in his voice. “I lament the way this hearing has come about,” he said. “My staff made repeated requests to interview Dr. Ford during the past eleven days, even volunteering to fly to California to take her testimony. But her attorneys refused to present her allegations to Congress. I nevertheless honored her request for a public hearing, so Dr. Ford today has the opportunity to present her allegations under oath.”
From the moment Chairman Chuck Grassley, 85, began his opening statement, it was clear he was irritated to be holding this hearing in the first place—and he was about to let everybody know it.
It was his tone as much as his words that stunned me, and that was before the interrupting started.
When Feinstein, the ranking minority member on the committee, took her allotted opening time, she used part of it to introduce Blasey Ford. “Before you get to your testimony—and the chairman chose not to do this,” she said. “I think it’s important to make sure you’re properly introduced.” But Grassley jumped in as she spoke, “I was going to introduce her. But if you want to introduce her, I’d be glad to have you do that, but I want you to know I didn’t forget to do that because I would do that just as she was about to speak.”
That was the first of many times Grassley would interject while one of the few women empowered to speak opened her mouth. It was almost as if he couldn’t help himself. Even the veteran prosecutor that GOP senators—too afraid, I think, of what it would look like to have 11 white men cross-examine an alleged sexual assault victim, whom I will remind us was not on trial—carted in to question Blasey Ford and Kavanaugh was not immune.
Grassley still interrupted her mid-question. As I wrote on Twitter, “Chuck Grassley is so frustrated he can’t ask Blasey Ford the intrusive questions himself that he has to interrupt the woman he hired to do so.” He then chastised Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), who was asking to provided documents about which Blasey Ford was testifying, saying he was “rudely interrupted.”
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But the dismissive attitude toward women didn’t stop there. When he granted a request from Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Grassley chided, “You got what you wanted and I’d think you’d be satisfied.”
Have you started screaming into the void yet? Because I haven’t stopped since 10 a.m. And we haven’t even addressed Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).
Since the allegations were made public, Graham has been one of the most vocal supporters of Kavanaugh. That doesn’t mean he’s kept his cool. His remarks to reporters after the first session were in sharp contrast to the measured tone that Blasey Ford used to speak when she testified. He was visibly furious. He was flippant and utterly dismissive of Blasey Ford. He said he felt “ambushed”. It was clear that he never intended to consider what she had to say. And that’s maddening.
PHOTO: Getty
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
“All I can deal with is what’s in front of me. I’ve got a guy who adamantly denies this,” he said. “Everybody who actually knows him in a real way say, ‘This is not the guy I know.” I’ve got Dr. Ford, who can’t tell me the time and the place. And we’ll see what happens. Maybe something comes out.”
And in case that wasn’t threatening enough, he continued: “To my Republican colleagues: If you can ignore everything in this record, looking at an allegation that’s 35 years old, that’s uncertain in time, place, date, and no corroboration. If that’s enough for you, god help us all as Republicans, because this happens to us, it never happens to them. But let me tell my Democratic friends: If this is the new norm, you’d better watch out for your nominees.”
Brett Kavanaugh came out swinging during the early part of his testimony. He raised his voice and was indignant. And Graham backed him up. “You’ve got nothing to apologize for!” Graham yelled. “This is the most unethical sham since I’ve been in politics.”
The palpable rage was mildly terrifying—and I’m sure triggering to many, many survivors. But I think this is what happens when rich, white, male privilege is threatened. The products of that privilege lash out in fear. Because if that system of protection is breaking down for one of their own, they might be in jeopardy in the future. And they don’t want to imagine that world.
