On Monday morning’s MSNBC Live, host Stephanie Ruhle made quite the comparison by suggesting that the smears against Judge Brett Kavanaugh were on par with Obama Supreme Court pick Merrick Garland not having a hearing, dismissing the President’s charge that these attacks were unprecedented for an appointee.
In the same segment, former New Jersey Republican Governor Christie Todd Whitman lamented that the Catholic Church is under fire because men have come forward claiming they were sexually abused by priests as boys, but the women accusing Kavanaugh haven’t been granted the same seriousness.
Ruhle teed up her nutty take by playing a clip of Trump telling reporters at the United Nations that “this could be one of the single most unfair, unjust things to happen to a candidate for anything” and the fiasco is “totally political.”
It was here that she uncorked this hot take about how decades-old, flimsy, uncorroborated allegations against Kavanaugh were on par with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell keeping a Supreme Court seat open due to it’s proximity to a presidential election:
Matt Schlapp, last night, I noticed on Twitter saying Republicans don't do this do Democrats. They absolutely do. Think back to Merrick Garland. He clearly wasn't given a fair shot. Are Democrats playing dirty? And if they are, is it justified, since Mitch McConnell set the dirty table and won?
The Root’s Jason Johnson agreed, arguing that “[t]he only reason we’re having these delays is because Mitch McConnell doesn't think that members of his party believe Kavanaugh.” They could be trying to be fair to Dr. Ford, but sure.
As for Whitman, she opined that Kavanaugh’s time on the Court would be consumed by “this cloud of his head” and dismissed the notion that some of the other justices would be concerned about getting to the truth of what Kavanaugh may or may not have done.
She also made that insane argument that there’s a gender disparity in the Catholic Church and Kavanaugh allegations because the former involved men being abused:
[B]ut it's very problematic to me that, nowadays, we've finally come to the point where we're taking very seriously allegations against the Catholic Church made by a man from abuse 30 years ago and yet, when a woman makes allegation about abuse that occurred 30 years ago, we're throwing up all kinds of roadblocks and all kinds of questioned. It should be questioned. It should be investigated. It should be understood what's true and what's not true.
Johnson made quite the leap of his own, suggesting that women don’t come forward to accuse powerful men of abuse because their lives are ruined: “People don't benefit from this. Their lives are ruined. They are threatened. They are chased out of their homes.”
He must have neglected to mention Anita Hill receiving a million dollar book deal, a job at Brandeis, commencement addresses, and celebrity status in liberal political circles.
To see the relevant transcript from July 24's MSNBC Live with Stephanie Ruhle, click “expand.”
MSNBC Live with Stephanie Ruhle
July 24, 2018
9:15 a.m. Eastern
CHRISTINE TODD WHITMAN: If he goes into the supreme court and it does seem as though the Republicans on the committee have already said we really don't care what Dr. Ford says, we're going to support him anyway, if that, in fact, happen, he goes in with this cloud over his head of who is he, what is his back ground really? It's terrible for his family. I mean, I would think his family would want him to do this and I would think the other justices would want him to know exactly — well, maybe not all of them. That might not be something they want to go into in too much detail, but it's very problematic to me that, nowadays, we've finally come to the point where we're taking very seriously allegations against the Catholic Church made by a man from abuse 30 years ago and yet, when a woman makes allegation about abuse that occurred 30 years ago, we're throwing up all kinds of roadblocks and all kinds of questioned. It should be questioned. It should be investigated. It should be understood what's true and what's not true. But to try to say that somehow because she didn't come forward at the time and, frankly, that President's tweet about the loving parents was just, to me, awful. You don't come forward — I think we all know people, I certainly do, who it took them years to uncover the fact that they had been sexually abused because they buried it so deeply, so deeply, it had traumatized them so much, that it took years of trying to figure out why aren't I having — why aren’t I better at relationships and going into therapy and then having this come out. It's a revelation to them.
(....)
9:17 a.m. Eastern
JASON JOHNSON: First off, where's this magical list of women who have come forward and accused men of sexual misconduct who have become rich and famous off this? It doesn't exist. People don't benefit from this. Their lives are ruined. They are threatened. They are chased out of their homes, so if you're coming forward, you really believe in your heart that something wrong happened to you, even if at the time you didn't know it was wrong. The second issue is this. This is not a trial. It's a job interview and in a job interview, we don't have the same standards. You cannot get a job because you smell like somebody who’s a bad person. So this assumption we're going to pretend it's a trial but not do a full investigation and not do everything as if it's a real trial and then still pass him as a job interview, that's what offends me about this and it’s not just about magically believing women.
(....)
9:19 a.m. Eastern
RUHLE: Well, President Trump was asked about this a moment ago at the U.N. and we have that. Let's listen.
DONALD TRUMP: There's a chance this could be one of the single most unfair, unjust things to happen to a candidate for anything, but I am with Judge Kavanaugh and I look forward to a vote and for people to come out of the woodwork from 36 years ago and 30 years ago and never mentioned it, all of a sudden it happens, in my opinion, it's totally political. It’s totally political.
RUHLE: Do you give — I mean, it's hard to even hear that. Do you give any breadth to that, though who want to say Dianne Feinstein sat on this, here we are, two days prior. Matt Schlapp, last night, I noticed on Twitter saying Republicans don't do this do Democrats. They absolutely do. Think back to Merrick Garland. He clearly wasn't given a fair shot. Are Democrats playing dirty? And if they are, is it justified, since Mitch McConnell set the dirty table and won?
JOHNSON: Right, well, this is something — my mom used to always say don't give them the bullets to shoot you with, right, when it comes to these situations. This didn't happen to Gorsuch because he didn't have this kind of background. I think there's something to be said here for if it's not true, again, you hold the investigation and it's done. The only reasons these accusations are coming forward is because he engages in some sort of behavior that brings it into question and at the end of the day and this is what I think is critically, the only reason we have these technically, if it's a party line vote, they have the votes to pass this. The only reason we’re having these delays is because Mitch McConnell doesn't think that members of his party believe Kavanaugh. Otherwise, they would just push this through and that's what I think it’s indicative of. This is not about Democrats, this is about Republicans who doubt this guy.
