Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) backed Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh last weekend — and the left is outraged.

Rohrabacher was secretly recorded — against California law, which requires two-party consent for taped conversations — as he spoke to supporters last Saturday, before the Washington Post published Christine Blasey Ford’s name and the details of her accusation last Sunday, which claims that Kavanaugh groped her at a party in high school more than 35 years ago.

The tape was leaked to the liberal website Talking Points Memo, which summarized Rohrabacher’s comments (at 9:54). The context was a discussion about how the government could use surveillance and “hate speech” rules to restrict freedom.:

“George Orwell, he was so incredibly insightful and could see what’s going to happen. But that’s the challenge you’re going to have. At least I didn’t have to worry about that … This guy who’s going to be our Supreme Court justice — and he better be our Supreme Court judge — he’s a perfect candidate, and what do they say? ‘Well, in high school you did this.’ High school? Give me a break.”

Rohrabacher is in the middle of a tough re-election race in California’s 48th congressional district. A recent New York Times / Sienna College poll found that he was tied, 45%-45%, with Democrat challenger Harley Rouda.

Talking Points Memo apparently tried to make the most out of the recording, publishing it after Dr. Ford’s story had emerged. Several local news outlets picked up the story. However, the effect may have been the opposite of the one intended, as Ford’s story has since been contradicted by every single potential witness she has named, including one of her own friends. A poll last week indicated that only 25 percent of American women believed that Dr. Ford’s story about Kavanaugh is credible.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.