It’s hard to imagine that anything coming out of Rachel Mitchell’s questioning will put a dent in Christine Blasey Ford’s credibility. The questions have focussed on minutiae, and the format doesn’t allow Mitchell to finish a line of thought. One exchange is already being highlighted in the right-wing press as damning, though. It was reported, while the hearing was being negotiated, that Ford didn’t want to come to Washington because she was afraid of flying. But, Mitchell pointed out, Ford has travelled by airplane in the past.

Mitchell: May I ask, Dr. Ford, how did you get to Washington?

Ford: In an airplane.

Mitchell: I ask that because it’s been reported by the press that you would not submit to an interview with the committee because of your fear of flying. Is that true?

Ford: I was willing and hoping that they would come to me, but then I realized that was an unrealistic request.

Mitchell: Would’ve been a quicker trip for me.

Ford: That was certainly what I was hoping—to avoid getting on an airplane.

Mitchell: You were here in the mid-Atlantic area back in August—July, August. How’d you get here?

Ford: Also by airplane. I’m here once a year, during the summer. I’m sorry, not here. I go to Delaware.

Mitchell: In fact, you fly fairly frequently for your hobbies, and you’ve had to fly for your work. Is that true?

Ford: Correct, unfortunately.

This is weak stuff, and the Republicans on the committee know it. Lindsey Graham, in particular, is getting testy. During the lunch break, beset on all sides by reporters, he warned Republicans against abandoning Brett Kavanaugh on the basis of Ford’s claims: “If that’s enough for you, God help us all as Republicans. Because this happens to us. It never happens to them.” He continued, “But let me tell you, my Democratic friends, if this is the new norm, you better watch out for your nominees.”

Heading into an elevator, Graham was reportedly told by a woman in the halls that she’d been raped. “I’m so sorry,” he said. “You needed to go to the cops.” This is one reminder of why the Senate’s Republicans aren’t engaging directly with Ford today. Orrin Hatch offered another. During the break, he told reporters that Ford was “a good witness” and an “attractive person.” Asked to clarify what he meant by “attractive,” he said, “In other words, she’s pleasing.”