Trump’s jibes at Ford backfire
Republican trio slam president’s sneers at Kavanaugh accuser
DONALD TRUMP mocking a woman accusing his Supreme Court nominee of sexual assault appeared to backfire yesterday as three wavering Republican senators criticised the comments.
He parodied the testimony of Christine Blasey Ford, the Californian professor making the claim, who has admitted not remembering significant details about the alleged incident.
Jeff Flake, the Republican senator from Arizona, said the president’s remarks were “appalling”, while Susan Collins, the Republican senator from Maine, called them “just plain wrong”, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said it was “wholly inappropriate”.
A vote on Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to join America’s top court is expected later this week after the FBI completes its investigation.
However, the result hangs in the balance. If just two Republican senators vote no, his candidacy is likely to fail.
Mr Trump had initially avoided criticism of Prof Ford, who accused Mr Kavanaugh (53) of pinning her on a bed and groping her at a highschool house party in 1982, calling her a “very credible witness” after she gave testimony to the Senate committee last week.
However, addressing cheering supporters at a rally in Southaven, Mississippi, on Tuesday, Mr Trump adopted a mocking tone and pointed to gaps in her memory of the alleged incident.
“I had one beer. Well, do you think it was – nope, it was one beer,” Mr Trump said, playing out an imaginary question and answer session with Prof Ford about the incident. “How did you get home? I don’t remember. How’d you get there? I don’t remember. Where is the place? I don’t remember. How many years ago was it? I don’t know.”
He went on: “What neighbourhood was it in? I don’t know. Where’s the house? I don’t know. Upstairs, downstairs? I don’t know – but I had one beer. That’s the only thing I remember. And a man’s life is in tatters.”
Prof Ford has made clear since first going public that she does not remember some key details. She believes the party took place in the summer of 1982 but has not named a date or month. She does not remember where the party was or how she got home, but alleges that the assault took place in a bedroom upstairs.
Mr Trump’s comments were rebuked by senators whose votes are crucial if Mr Kavanaugh’s nomination is to pass, including Mr Flake whose call for an FBI inquiry into sexual misconduct claims delayed the vote by a week.
He said yesterday: “There’s no time and no place for remarks like that. To discuss something this sensitive at a political rally is just not right, it’s just not right. It’s kind of appalling.”
Sarah Sanders, the White House press secretary, rejected criticism of Mr Trump’s comments, saying: “The president was stating the facts.”
The FBI investigation is due to be completed imminently and a Senate panel vote could come as early as tomorrow. Mr Kavanaugh has categorically denied Prof Ford’s allegation. Meanwhile, Mr Trump dismissed a report suggesting he avoided paying hundreds of millions of dollars in inheritance tax, labelling the ‘New York Times’ story a “very old, boring ... hit piece”.
A day after the ‘New York Times’ published a 14,000-word investigation – filling eight pages of its Wednesday print edition – that claimed the president engaged in schemes that included cases of fraud in which he and his siblings helped their parents dodge millions of dollars in taxes, the president dismissed the article.
Its main assertion was that the president had received the equivalent today of at least $413m (€360m) from his father’s real-estate business.
It said that after pouring though the “vast trove” of records, it believed that Mr Trump helped his parents evade taxes by setting up a fake corporation with his siblings to disguise millions of dollars in gifts.
‘Trump adopted a mocking tone and pointed to gaps in her memory’