From insisting female accusers must always be believed to telling men in general to “shut up,” Senate Democrats are needlessly dividing the nation while also demonstrating they really don’t believe the woman claiming Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. I was on Radio America News to discuss.
After days of silence on the allegation lodged by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in the early 1980’s, Senate Democrats are pushing the twin messages that this accusation must be thoroughly investigated by the FBI but also that they believe Ford is telling the truth.
ABC News Chief Political Analyst Matthew Dowd, who worked on the presidential campaigns of George W. Bush, even tweeted out that the woman should always be believed in these situations.
“Enough with the he said, she said’ story line,” tweeted Dowd this week. “If this is he said, she said, then let’s believe the she in these scenarios. She has nothing to gain, and everything to lose. For 250 years we have believed the he in these scenarios. Enough is enough.”
Trotter says that is not how our system works.
“These Democrats and many in the media are equating ‘she must be taken seriously,’ which everyone agrees with ‘he’s presumed guilty until proven innocent.’ I think it’s really dangerous and sad that wee turned one of the very foundations of American law on it’s head,” said Trotter.
Trotter is also a practicing attorney and says while Democrats keep labeling Ford’s allegation as “credible,” there is a legal expectation for credibility that is lacking thus far in this case.
“Usually credibility means that it’s verified. It’s corroborated. There are similar attestations around the same time that the allegation was said to occur, that there are pertinent details that can be offered,” said Trotter.
Trotter says the timing of this allegation, when Sen. Dianne Feinstein possessed the letter for more than a month, reveals two things about the Democrats on this issue. First, the failure of Feinstein to inform anyone else on the committee proves there’s little interest in the truth as opposed to the political benefit.
Moreover, Trotter says it’s pretty clear the Democrats themselves are dubious about the allegation. She says members of the Judiciary Committee had two background calls with Kavanaugh, along with a closed session detailing his background check, 32 hours of public testimony, and 1,300 written questions. Not once in that process did anyone bring up the allegation.
Meanwhile, Trotter says dozens women who have known Kavanaugh from high school to college and law school to his career at the White House and on the bench vouch for his character.
But Democrats are taking the issue beyond Kavanaugh and Ford. On Tuesday, Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono told American men to “shut up and step up.”
“Guess who’s perpetuating (sic) all these kinds of actions? It’s the men in this country and I just want to say to the men in this country, just shut up and step up. Do the right thing for a change,” said Hirono, who also admitted in another interview that Democrats would be fine keeping the court seat vacant until 2021.
Trotter is appalled.
“I can’t believe she would say something so outrageous and offensive to American men. Does she forget that American men and women built this country and they absolutely have a first amendment right to speak their minds and their opinions.
“To try to shame them into being quiet on something as consequential as the next Supreme Court nomination and confirmation process is truly just outrageous,” said Trotter.
She says the intentional division based on sex is very damaging to our society.
“We know as women that men are our fathers, our brothers, our co-workers, our neighbors. They are an important part of building our American society and helping to ensure equal opportunity for all Americans. They are shoulder-to-shoulder with the American women,” said Trotter.
She says the the effort to divide men and women politically is nothing new, pointing to the Democrats alleging during the 2012 campaign that the GOP wanted to wage a war on women.
“Perhaps that is part of the strategy of all of this going into the midterm elections.” she said.
Trotter suspects the move could backfire this time, because while Americans may be polarized, they also have an innate sense of fairness, especially on something like the Kavanaugh-Ford controversy.
“I think Americans can see that while they want both parties to be heard in this set of allegations, they understand that the fundamental right of an accused and the fundamental right of a person to not have their character smeared or their reputation destroyed because of politics is a bridge too far,” said Trotter.
American Women's Alliance Pres. @GayleTrotter hammers Dems for savaging all men in the effort to sink the Kavanaugh nomination, explains what lawyers look for in a credible accusation, and why she's dubious that even the Dems think the accusation is true. https://t.co/fCbKdOC7YM
— Greg Corombos (@Dateline_DC) September 19, 2018
