President Trump indicated Friday that he does not particularly care what Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, has to say.

“Let her testify, or not, and TAKE THE VOTE!” Trump tweeted, referring to the possibility that Ford participates in a congressional hearing next week to address her accusations.

Senator Feinstein and the Democrats held the letter for months, only to release it with a bang after the hearings were OVER – done very purposefully to Obstruct & Resist & Delay. Let her testify, or not, and TAKE THE VOTE! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 21, 2018

Beyond misrepresenting how Ford’s accusation became public knowledge — a confidential letter Ford wrote to Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) was leaked, not “released” by the senator — the tone of Trump’s tweet represents a shift from his previous comments on the matter.


Trump told reporters on Wednesday that if Ford offered “credible testimony” about the alleged assault, he would have to “make a decision” about Kavanaugh’s nomination.

At that time, it was unclear whether Ford would be willing to testify or not. But now that she’s signaled she’s conditionally willing to do so, Trump is urging senators to “TAKE THE VOTE!” regardless of what she might have to say.

There is no compelling reason for Republicans to rush a vote on Kavanaugh, beyond concerns that delaying it could result in more damaging information about him emerging and potentially prevent Republicans from getting another conservative Justice on the Supreme Court before November’s midterm elections.

Trump is not the first Republican involved in Kavanaugh’s nomination to give up the game in this way. On Wednesday evening, Mike Davis, chief counsel for nominations for the Senate Judiciary Committee chaired by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), posted tweets indicating he’s not even pretending to take Ford’s sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh seriously.

“Unfazed and determined,” Davis wrote. “We will confirm Judge Kavanaugh.”

Mike Davis is @ChuckGrassley’s lead staffer for the SCOTUS nomination. Here’s what he tweeted last night, proving the GOP machine has no intention of taking the attempted rape of Christine Blasey Ford seriously. It’s dereliction of duty and he’s just locked his account.👎🏻 pic.twitter.com/KW0AHaNeMa — Rob Bennett (@rob_bennett) September 20, 2018

During a speech to the Values Voters Summit on Friday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell indicated he isn’t taking Ford’s allegation seriously either, telling his audience “we’re going to plow right through it.”

Kavanaugh will be on court, McConnell tells Value Voters Summit. "We're going to plow right through it."https://t.co/h9c7VLwqXz — Erica Werner (@ericawerner) September 21, 2018

Even if Ford offers compelling testimony about the alleged assault, Trump — who has been accused of sexual assault by 15 women, all of whom he claims are liars — still may not believe her.

In February, Trump ignored photographic evidence that then-White House aide Rob Porter had physically abused one of his ex-wives (both had accused him of abuse) and indicated he sided with Porter.


“We hope he has a wonderful career and he will have a great career ahead of him,” Trump said, completely ignoring Porter’s alleged victims. “But it was very sad when we heard about it and certainly he’s also very sad now. He also, as you probably know, says he’s innocent and you have to remember that. He said very strongly yesterday that he’s innocent.”

Similarly, while Trump had managed to refrain from personally attacking Ford before Friday morning, throughout the week he repeatedly expressed sympathy for Kavanaugh without so much as mentioning Ford’s name.