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Susan Collins defends Kavanaugh vote and against charges that she betrayed women Susan Collins defends Kavanaugh vote and denies that she betrayed women
(about 1 hour later)
Susan Collins, the Republican US senator from Maine whose vote in favor of Brett Kavanaugh was decisive in his overcoming sexual assault allegations and placing him on the supreme court, defended herself on Sunday morning against charges that she let down women across America and betrayed the #MeToo movement. Susan Collins, the moderate US senator from Maine whose vote to put Brett Kavanaugh on the supreme court was decisive, despite sexual assault allegations, defended herself on Sunday against charges of betraying women and the #MeToo movement – as the Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, boasted that the bitter fight on Capitol Hill has given his party a late advantage in the forthcoming midterm elections.
A day after Justice Kavanaugh, as he is now titled, was granted the ninth seat on the nation’s highest court, Collins was asked point blank by Dana Bash on CNN’s State of the Union whether she had betrayed women. She replied: “This is a case where there was an incident that happened allegedly 36 years ago where there is no corroborating evidence.” A day after Justice Kavanaugh, as he is now titled, was granted the ninth seat on the nation’s highest court, in the face of fierce protests, Collins was asked by Dana Bash on CNN’s State of the Union whether she had betrayed women. The Republican senator replied: “This is a case where there was an incident that happened allegedly 36 years ago where there is no corroborating evidence.”
She went on: “It is not fair to Brett Kavanaugh for this to be disqualifying in the absence of evidence, but that does not mean that I don’t believe Christine Ford was a victim of sexual assault.”She went on: “It is not fair to Brett Kavanaugh for this to be disqualifying in the absence of evidence, but that does not mean that I don’t believe Christine Ford was a victim of sexual assault.”
In the course of the CNN interview, Collins put further space between herself and Ford, the California-based professor who accused Kavanaugh of attempting to rape her at a teenaged gathering in Maryland in the early 1980s. She said that she found Ford’s testimony before the Senate judiciary committee “heartwrenching, painful, compelling” but she went on to say: “I believe that she believes what she testified to.” In the course of the interview, Collins put further space between herself and Ford, the California-based professor who accused Kavanaugh of attempting to rape her at a teenaged gathering in Maryland in the early 1980s. She said that she found Ford’s testimony before the Senate judiciary committee “heartwrenching, painful, compelling” but she went on to say: “I believe that she believes what she testified to.”
That phrase was leapt upon by one of Kavanaugh’s fiercest critics during the confirmation process, the Democratic senator from Hawaii, Mazie Hirono, who called it insulting to Ford. “She said that Dr Ford thinks that she was assaulted, which is even more insulting than saying that she gave a credible account.”That phrase was leapt upon by one of Kavanaugh’s fiercest critics during the confirmation process, the Democratic senator from Hawaii, Mazie Hirono, who called it insulting to Ford. “She said that Dr Ford thinks that she was assaulted, which is even more insulting than saying that she gave a credible account.”
With the dust barely settling after a process that was meant to uphold the sanctity and august bearing of the supreme court but ended up being one of the most partisan, and narrowly won, confirmation proceedings inhistory, brickbats continued to fly over the weekend. Thousands of women and men rallied outside the court on Saturday in protest. With the dust barely settling after a process that was meant to uphold the sanctity and august bearing of the supreme court but ended up being one of the most partisan, and narrowly won, confirmation proceedings in history, brickbats continued to fly over the weekend. Thousands of women and men rallied outside the court on Saturday in protest.
After the confirmation vote on Saturday afternoon, McConnell told reporters, almost jauntily: “These things always blow over.” But bitter divisions in Congress and the country are almost certain to continue.
Much of the anger was directed at Collins who swung behind Kavanaugh in the end, unlike her peer, senator Lisa Murkowski from Alaska, who was the lone Republican “No” during the procedural vote on Friday that paved the way for a smooth final senate vote on Saturday afternoon. The political wing of the women’s health organization Planned Parenthood, which has been a firm ally of Collins in the past and even presented her with an award, put out a devastating statement in which it said: “Senator Collins has made it clear that she can no longer call herself a women’s rights champion. She has sided with those who disbelieved, disrespected, and even mocked survivors.”Much of the anger was directed at Collins who swung behind Kavanaugh in the end, unlike her peer, senator Lisa Murkowski from Alaska, who was the lone Republican “No” during the procedural vote on Friday that paved the way for a smooth final senate vote on Saturday afternoon. The political wing of the women’s health organization Planned Parenthood, which has been a firm ally of Collins in the past and even presented her with an award, put out a devastating statement in which it said: “Senator Collins has made it clear that she can no longer call herself a women’s rights champion. She has sided with those who disbelieved, disrespected, and even mocked survivors.”
A crowd-sourced fund set up this weekend to try and unseat Collins when she comes up for re-election in 2020 has already attracted more than $2m. On Friday, Susan Rice, former national security adviser to Barak Obama when he was president, hinted that she was considering running for the Maine seat. Collins told CBS’s Face the Nation that former president George W Bush phoned her three times to talk up Kavanaugh, who worked at the Bush White House. She said pressure from both sides had been “overwhelming”.
A crowd-sourced fund set up this weekend to try and unseat Collins when she comes up for re-election in 2020 has already attracted more than $2m. On Friday, Susan Rice, former national security adviser to Barack Obama when he was president, hinted that she was considering running for the Maine seat.
Collins hit back at Rice on Sunday with a snarky remark about her potential rivals’ connections to Maine. “As far as Susan Rice is concerned, her family has a house in Maine, but she doesn’t live in Maine and everybody knows that.” And in a dig that online commentators saw as Trump-like in its tone, Collins added sarcastically that when Rice was nominated as ambassador to the United Nations in the Obama administration “she came to me and pleaded with me to introduce her” to a key senate committee.Collins hit back at Rice on Sunday with a snarky remark about her potential rivals’ connections to Maine. “As far as Susan Rice is concerned, her family has a house in Maine, but she doesn’t live in Maine and everybody knows that.” And in a dig that online commentators saw as Trump-like in its tone, Collins added sarcastically that when Rice was nominated as ambassador to the United Nations in the Obama administration “she came to me and pleaded with me to introduce her” to a key senate committee.
Mazie Hirono, however, concluded with: “I want to ask Susan Collins, if you were interviewing someone for a lifetime position to some company would you hire somebody with this kind of cloud over their heads?”
As the fall-out continues, other leading female senators are coming forward to explain their positions in the brutally divided debate. Heidi Heitkamp, a Democratic senator who voted against Kavanaugh despite representing the highly conservative state of North Dakota, where her seat is now in serious jeopardy, put out a new TV ad. In it she told her constituents she had voted to reject the judge because “I don’t think he told the truth” and in any case he was “too biased to be impartial”.As the fall-out continues, other leading female senators are coming forward to explain their positions in the brutally divided debate. Heidi Heitkamp, a Democratic senator who voted against Kavanaugh despite representing the highly conservative state of North Dakota, where her seat is now in serious jeopardy, put out a new TV ad. In it she told her constituents she had voted to reject the judge because “I don’t think he told the truth” and in any case he was “too biased to be impartial”.
Collins for her part is leaning heavily on evidential legal standards that would apply in criminal court. “In this country, we have a presumption of innocence. As a matter of fairness I decided to use as a standard the question: is it more likely than not that Brett Kavanaugh assaulted Christine Ford?” She decided it was not. With the confirmation now done, thoughts are quickly turning to the midterm elections just a month away. Mitch McConnell, the leading Republican in the US senate, told CBS’s Face the Nation that the bitter Kavanaugh fight had succeeded in firing up the conservative base in ways that tax cuts and trade wars had failed to do.
But Senator Hirono said that presumption of innocence was the wrong standard to apply in what she characterized as a job interview to a life appointment to a position of enormous power. “This is not a court of law,” Hirono said. “Ironically, the behavior of Democrats on the senate judiciary committee has energised the Republican base … So I want to thank the other side for the tactics that have allowed us to energise our voters.”
“I want to ask Susan Collins, if you were interviewing someone for a lifetime position to some company would you hire somebody with this kind of cloud over their heads?” McConnell admitted that until the supreme court dispute, his party had a problem going into the midterms. “Everybody knows how energised the Democrat side is, and so our energy and enthusiasm was lagging behind theirs until this. I think this gave us the motivation to have the kind of turnout in the election that will help us hold the senate.”
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