Twitter Is Sharing The Most Supportive Messages About Christine Blasey Ford's Testimony
President Donald Trump's nominee for the Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh, is trekking a rocky road to his confirmation. As the hearing process before the Senate Judiciary Committee got underway, allegations of sexual misconduct were leveled against Kavanaugh, which he has denied. Elite Daily reached out to representatives of Kavanaugh for further comment, but did not hear back. On Thursday, Sept. 27, one of his accusers, Christine Blasey Ford, got the chance to testify, and these tweets about Christine Blasey Ford's testimony are so supportive.
In a letter shared with Congress on Sept. 14, Ford accused Kavanaugh of attempted sexual assault while the two were in high school in the 1980s, alleging that he and a friend trapped her in a room at a party, where Kavanaugh allegedly held her down and tried to remove her clothes. Kavanaugh denied Ford's allegation, calling it "completely false." Elite Daily reached out to representatives of Kavanaugh for further comment but did not hear back. Regardless of Kavanaugh's denial, the Senate Judiciary Committee invited Ford to testify, and on Thursday she shared her story, through tears, in an open hearing.
From the start, Ford was clearly emotional, on the verge of tears as she read her statement about Kavanaugh's alleged assault. "I am here today not because I want to be. I am terrified," Ford said. She then went on to detail how she met Kavanaugh and the details of the alleged assault. Ford explained that she went to a party that Kavanaugh was attending when he and a friend allegedly assaulted her. "I believed he was going to rape me," said Ford. As everyone watched Ford deliver her incredibly emotional statement, Twitter took the time to share support for her, whether she could see it or not.
Since Ford's allegations went public, two more women have come forward to accuse Kavanaugh of misconduct in high school and college. Deborah Ramirez has accused Kavanaugh of exposing himself to her in college, while Julie Swetnick has accused him of participating in drugging young women allegedly for the purposes of sexually assaulting them. Kavanaugh has denied all the claims, saying in a statement after Swetnick's allegation, "This is ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone. I don't know who this is and this never happened." He made a similar statement in reference to Ramirez's accuation, saying it "did not happen." Representatives for Kavanaugh did not respond to Elite Daily's request for comment on either claim.
Ford did not agree to testify right away. On Sept. 19, Ford's attorneys sent a letter to Senate Judiciary Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley expressing concern over the details surrounding the hearing. Ford's attorneys explained in their letter that since coming forward, Ford has been subjected to death threats and even had to leave her home. They also didn't feel that Ford should have to "testify at the same table as Judge Kavanaugh" nor should she have to be interrogated by senators who have already made up their minds that Ford is "mistaken" and "mixed up" about what allegedly went down between her and Kavanaugh. Grassley later agreed to give Ford the option to testify privately — which Ford turned down and instead opted for an open hearing. Despite Ford's request to be questioned by senators directly, the committee decided to bring in Rachel Mitchell, an "experienced career sex-crimes prosecutor," to question both Ford and Kavanaugh during Thursday's hearing, according to Yahoo. Grassley's statement announcing Mitchell's participation read,
The majority members have followed the bipartisan recommendation to hire as staff counsel for the committee an experienced career sex-crimes prosecutor to question the witnesses at Thursday’s hearing. The goal is to de-politicize the process and get to the truth, instead of grandstanding and giving senators an opportunity to launch their presidential campaigns. I’m very appreciative that Rachel Mitchell has stepped forward to serve in this important and serious role.
Before the hearing, though, Twitter was given something else to respond to when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters on Tuesday, Sept. 25, “We have hired a female assistant to go on staff and to ask these questions in a respectful and professional way,” speaking of Mitchell (who was not yet named), according to Reuters.
Twitter was not happy with the hired counsel, an actual attorney, being referred to as a "female assistant." Of course they were on deck to check McConnell on his wording.
Maybe no one expected Ford to testify in an open hearing, or for the committee to bring in outside counsel to question her and Kavanaugh, but I can say that it's all been providing a lot of fuel for Twitter, and I don't expect it to let up anytime soon.
More to come.
