Lindsey Graham had had enough.
The South Carolina Republican erupted in anger during his turn to question Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on Thursday afternoon, marking a pivotal turn away from the GOP’s previously measured attempt to rely on outside counsel for questioning the high court nominee.
It was a stunning moment, but one that clearly had been coming for days for anyone watching the 63-year-old senator closely.
A furious Graham accused Senate Democrats of “the most unethical sham since I’ve been in politics” — an effort to ruin Kavanaugh’s reputation and sink his nomination for the Supreme Court. At another point, Graham said of Kavanaugh’s confirmation process: “This is not a job interview. This is hell.”
“What you want to do is destroy this guy’s life, hold this seat open, and hope you win in 2020,” Graham roared in the seventh hour of Judiciary Committee testimony over whether Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted Christine Blasey Ford in 1982.
After Graham’s outburst, the two Senate Republicans immediately following him, Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), took the same approach of questioning Kavanaugh directly. Rachel Mitchell, the sex crimes prosecutor brought into handle the questioning of Christine Blasey Ford, sat quietly in the front of the committee dais for the rest of the afternoon session, ignored by the very senators who had hired her.
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“If you really wanted to know the truth, you sure as hell wouldn’t have done what you did to this guy,” Graham yelled at Democrats. “Boy, you guys want power. God, I hope you never get it. I hope the American people can see through this sham. That you knew about it and you held it.”
Graham then turned to Kavanaugh.
“Are you a gang rapist?” Graham asked. Kavanaugh calmly replied, “No.”
Graham was the first Republican senator to directly question either Kavanaugh or Ford, ditching the GOP’s tactic of relying on their hand-picked outside prosecutor, Rachel Mitchell.
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“To my Republican colleagues, if you vote no, you’re legitimizing the most despicable thing I’ve seen in politics,” Graham said, before turning to Kavanaugh. “I hope you’re on the Supreme Court. That’s exactly where you should be.”
- Discussion
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At roughly hour 7, Graham began unleashing on Senate Democrats
Turned out to be something of a turning point. The rest of the Senate Rs followed, using his same combative tone. https://t.co/HPDm1Xrs7M
— Sarah Ferris (@sarahnferris) September 28, 2018
Next to Judge Kavanaugh, Lindsey Graham was the strongest voice in yesterday’s hearing. And that’s surprising because Graham has always seemed like a weakling to me.
Graham: "Ford has a problem and destroying Judge Kavanaugh’s life won’t fix her problem" https://t.co/NmC5QKnPnN pic.twitter.com/riVB0POBHe
— The Hill (@thehill) September 28, 2018
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