In case you missed it, Rep. Mike Bishop did a radio interview today on Michigan’s Big Show where he discussed the sexual assault allegations facing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Bishop referred to the woman’s call for an investigation a “ploy,” meant to drag the process out further.

“The sexual assault allegations against Brett Kavanaugh are serious and should be treated with respect,” said DCCC spokesperson Rachel Irwin. “It’s disturbing that Rep. Mike Bishop would call demands for an investigation into this matter a ‘ploy.’ It says a lot about Mike Bishop that he would resort to victim-shaming and put partisanship ahead of doing what’s right. He must apologize immediately.”

Transcript:

MPS [3:10]: I don’t know if there’s more tension at the DMZ or in the Senate now over the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh. I know that’s a Senate matter, but what do you make of that situation?

Bishop [3:22]: Oh you know I just… I don’t know how we do it anymore with our nominees. They go through a lot. I know Kavanaugh to be an extremely qualified jurist. One of the finest jurists that we’ve seen. It’s unfortunate that this type of thing has to happen. I don’t know where this is going to lead but I do know he’s a man of exceptional character and he’ll weather this storm. I just hope the Senate moves forward. I think it’s bad for the process and it’s bad for the Senate to drag this thing along.

MPS [3:58]: Well it’s interesting. Somebody who has gone through their entire life advancing and never had something like this trip him up and I guess when you got…the thing that I find curious is that the woman that’s accusing him seems to want to control the process.

Bishop [4:14]: I agree and the demand the other day for a full FBI investigation was very telling that this was…this seemed to be the ploy, to drag this out even further. And it is unfortunate because it all came out in the last moment. They had thousands of documents to review and members had chances to meet with Justice Kavanaugh all through this process and never was it raised. Then at the 11th hour in order to stop this thing from moving forward it was unveiled and it derailed the entire process. It doesn’t say much for the process. I think it demeans the integrity of the Senate when they try to play gotcha like this. I’m not speaking to the merits of this person’s claim, I think that will come out. But the way in which it came out and the way in which it was handled was not right in my opinion.

MPS [5:13]: Because it was leverage. It was used as it seems leverage, a political football. But a very serious matter that affects people.

Bishop [15:20]: And this man has a family…married and a family. I just think…having…the process has become very acrimonious and venomous in many ways. I wish that it wasn’t that way and I wish that we could fairly asses our candidates and talk about facts and do it in such a way that we’re above board. But this system has gone off the rails in my opinion in many ways and it’s unfortunate because the Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the land and we ought to be doing everything in our power to be as transparent as possible and not turn this into a political circus.