WASHINGTON – Republican Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina joked about sexual assault and the Supreme Court during an election debate in his district on Thursday, according to a story in The Post and Courier of Charleston.

"Did y’all hear this latest late-breaking news on the Kavanaugh hearings?" Norman said, according to the paper. "Ruth Bader Ginsburg came out saying she was groped by Abraham Lincoln."

Norman made the joke amid allegations that Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump's nominee for the Supreme Court, sexually assaulted a girl in high school. Kavanaugh has denied the charges. The Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled a public hearing on the allegations for Monday.

South Carolina Democrats quickly denounced Norman's joke, saying it's wrong to mock sexual assault and the allegations against Kavanaugh.

"Ralph Norman just proved he may be rich but he doesn't have any class," tweeted Trav Robertson, chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party, adding that "inappropriate doesn't describe his remarks."

Norman, a real estate developer and freshman congressman, reportedly made the joke at a debate hosted by the Kiwanis Club of Rock Hill. He was debating his challenger, Democrat Archie Parnell.

"My opponent apparently thinks sexual assault is a joke," Parnell said in a statement. "It is not."

Norman's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from USA TODAY.

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