During a discussion on the various scandals engulfing Virginia Democrat leadership this week, MSNBC legal analyst Maya Wiley dismissed the controversies as “political” while ludicrously arguing that Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh didn’t receive as much scrutiny as these Democrat men were facing.
On MSNBC Live with Stephanie Ruhle Thursday, panelist and analyst Cornell Belcher began the segment calling for “a pathway for forgiveness on racial issues” for the Democrat politicians embroiled in scandals involving blackface when contrition was presented. But Belcher also said that his issue with Governor Ralph Northam’s blackface scandal is that he didn’t seem apologetic. Host Stephanie Ruhle agreed, comparing his response to Brett Kavanaugh before Congress.
“That was the people’s issue with Brett Kavanaugh and his hearing!” she gushed.
“And Brett Kavanaugh ultimately got on the Supreme Court so he didn't pay the ultimate price for this!” Belcher agreed.
The comparison to Kavanaugh irritated legal analyst Maya Wiley, who complained the two situations couldn’t be more different, because Kavanaugh supposedly had a host of issues beyond the accusations of attempted rape, from alcoholism to problems with “temperament.”
She alleged that credible accusations against him (like serial gang rape?) had been “swept under the rug:”
Let's back up. I think we're conflating things we shouldn't. Brett Kavanaugh had several problems. There was an allegation, then there was clear behavior around copious drinking and additional allegations, and we did not have a full hearing, and accounting, even though we had a process for it. In this case, the issue is, we don't have a clear process, because the process of the election itself, the election has happened, so the question becomes a purely political one. But I don't think we should sit here and suggest that there was just no -- we literally swept under the rug the opportunity to understand better what a series of women were saying about Brett Kavanaugh, and then we have his behavior that he exhibited in the confirmation hearing itself, which was essentially behavior that even conservative judges were saying was inappropriate behavior to suggest he had the temperament to sit on the bench. Now, in this case, what is the process? Well, one is you actually could imagine having a process of a public accounting, and to the point of redemption, demonstrate that you've learned something, and show how. We haven't had that.
Wiley added that while the accusations surrounding Ralph Northam and Justin Fairfax needed to be "taken seriously," it was a question of "politics" vs. "law:" "From a legal standpoint due process takes time and there should be due process, from a political standpoint, it is the legitimacy of the person in office to be seen as someone who has the integrity to serve?" she asked, before suggesting again that Kavanaugh didn't have the integrity to serve.
Ruhle ended the segment by coming to Democrats’ aid again: “And sexual assault is also a crime. And blackface is awful, but not a crime. This is really complicated. Virginia is for lovers?” she sighed.
