A Republican congressman from South Carolina has been criticized for making a sexual assault joke about Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, saying the 85-year-old was “groped” by Abraham Lincoln.

The congressman, Ralph Norman, was making reference to recent allegations against Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, President Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court. Christine Blasey Ford, a research psychologist from California, has said that Judge Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were in high school.

“Did you all hear the latest breaking news from the Kavanaugh hearings?” Mr. Norman told the crowd at a Thursday meeting of the Kiwanis in Rock Hill, S.C. “Ruth Bader Ginsburg came out that she was groped by Abraham Lincoln.”

A video of his comments was posted on the website of The Herald, a newspaper in Rock Hill. Mr. Norman was debating his Democratic challenger, Archie Parnell.