A reporter asked Donald Trump yesterday whether the FBI should re-open its background investigation into Judge Brett Kavanaugh, in light of the sexual assault allegation raised by Christine Blasey Ford. After the president falsely claimed “that not what they do,” referring to FBI officials, he expressed his sympathy — for his Supreme Court nominee.
“I feel so badly for him that he’s going through this, to be honest with you. I feel so badly for him,” Trump said. “This is not a man that deserves this…. Honestly, I feel terribly for him, for his wife, who is an incredible, lovely woman, and for his beautiful young daughters. I feel terribly for them.”
Under the circumstances, perhaps Kavanaugh isn’t the one who deserves the president’s compassion.
At 10:28 Tuesday morning, a Twitter account with a white nationalist talking point for its handle posted Christine Blasey Ford’s personal address.
The account called for “peaceful protests” at Ford’s home in Northern California over her accusation that Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a party in the early 1980s when they were teenagers. The allegation was a “hoax” orchestrated by the “deranged left,” the account tweeted.
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This was at least the third time a Twitter user had “doxed” Ford — posted her personal information online — since she revealed her identity to The Washington Post and accused President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee of sexual assault.
The Washington Post‘s report added that Ford and her family “have moved out of their home as a security precaution, and she and her husband are staying apart from their two children.”
It’s against this backdrop that Donald Trump sees Brett Kavanaugh as a victim worthy of sympathy.
When people ask why so many victims of sexual assault are reluctant to come forward, especially when their attackers are powerful men, keep this story in mind.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
