Trump Continues to Doubt and Debase Victims of Sexual Assault
To quell the nation’s concerns over his latest Supreme Court nominee, President Trump decided to hold a press conference Wednesday evening. It lasted nearly an hour-and-a-half and, to no one’s surprise, he wasn’t quite able to patch things up with those who have argued he’s been insensitive to Brett Kavanaugh’s accusers. Trump once again described these statements as “false,” which may have been the least offensive part of his comments regarding sexual abuse.
The president began by doubling down on his Tuesday morning rant about the “con job” the Democrats are pulling in an effort to disrupt Kavanaugh’s confirmation, once again painting a picture of “Schumer and his buddies” congregating in a back room to “laugh like hell” at how they’re pulling a fast one on the nation. “They’re actually con artists, because they know how quality this man is and they’ve destroyed a man’s reputation, and they want to destroy it even more,” Trump said. He went on to describe Kavanaugh as a “tremendous genius” with “beautiful children.”
To bolster his argument, the president assured the nation that the Democrats would have voted against George Washington, who also had a “bad past.”
President Donald Trump: "If we brought George Washington here … the Democrats would vote against him."
"And he may have had a bad past, who knows … George Washington would be voted against one hundred percent by Schumer and the con artists," he adds https://t.co/H9Yha41RJr pic.twitter.com/ln8SRr4QNj
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) September 26, 2018
Trump was largely incoherent in responding to questions about the sexual assault accusations against Kavanaugh, offering an undecipherable knot of lies and contradictions. He once again questioned why Christine Blasey Ford didn’t come forward after the alleged sexual assault took place. If her parents had reported the incident, “it would have been pretty amazing,” Trump said. When pressed about his own history of sexual misconduct allegations, the president went on a lengthy, convoluted tangent about how they have actually all been disproven, but that only Sean Hannity has noticed. He also admitted that the allegations he has faced have impacted his view of those against Kavanaugh. “You know why? Because I’ve had a lot of false charges made against me,” Trump said. “I’m a very famous person, unfortunately. I’ve been a famous person for a long time. But I’ve had a lot of false charges made against me, really false charges.” Minutes later he would forcibly deny that he ever said this.
Nevertheless, the president said that he was looking forward to Ford’s testimony on Thursday, and that he might even reschedule his meeting with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein so he can pay extra close attention to it. “I can always be convinced,” Trump said. Hours earlier, he implied the Senate shouldn’t have even allowed her to testify. Again, the contradictions were impossible to follow. It was exhausting to watch.
The president did provide a little comic relief. China was another big topic, as Trump said without evidence earlier on Wednesday that the country is trying to influence America’s elections. “They would like to see me lose an election because they’ve never been challenged like this,” he explained during the press conference. Is he still “friends” with Chinese President Xi? It doesn’t matter, because China respects him — both the man, and the man’s “very, very large eh-brain.” Take it from Mr. Pillsbury.
Trump, quoting Michael Pillsbury, says "China has total respect for Donald Trump and for Donald Trump's very, very large brain." pic.twitter.com/VSqqYKZXDl
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) September 26, 2018
Since taking office, Trump has essentially set fire to American diplomacy. It’s fine, he has argued time and time again, because this or that world leader loves him and he loves the people of their country. The Fake News just doesn’t understand, which is why he has to keep reminding everyone. North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, for example. He sent the president a very nice letter, which on Wednesday Trump described as “groundbreaking,” “historic” and “a beautiful piece of art.” So everything’s fine there. No, Trump would not give a timeline for North Korea to denuclearize. It doesn’t matter. “He likes me. I like him,” Trump said of Kim.
Iran? “A very special place.” The Kurds? “They’re great, great people.” Canada? “I love Canada by the way, I have so many friends. I have everybody, so many friends.” South Korea? “I know you won’t report it, but Bret Baier interviewed [South Korean President Moon] last night, and he asked him about me,” Trump said. “I can’t say because you would say I’m too braggadocious, but what he said about me last night was an unbelievable thing: ‘It couldn’t have happened without President Trump, and it never would happen without President Trump. And nobody else could do it.'”
The Democrats? “Very evil people,” Trump said.