As a Senate subcommittee prepared Wednesday for its fourth hearing in six months on the Olympic sex abuse scandal, ranking member Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., condemned President Trump’s mockery of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford as a “vile, shameful attack” that “disrespects and demeans … all the community of survivors.”

In a telephone interview before the hearing, Blumenthal sharply criticized Trump’s comments ridiculing Blasey Ford, who testified Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a high school party in the Washington, D.C. suburbs in the 1980s.

“His vile, shameful attack on this courageous survivor disrespects and demeans not only Dr. Blasey Ford but also all the community of survivors,” said Blumenthal, who participated in the hearing last week as a member of the Judiciary Committee. “It demonstrates the reason that so many sexual assault survivors are deterred or discouraged from coming forward because they face exactly this kind of public shaming and character assassination.

“What’s most striking is that the president of the United States seems to have learned nothing from the powerful, credible testimony that the nation watched on Thursday and led so many people to admire Dr. Blasey Ford’s bravery.”

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Later Wednesday afternoon, in response to an email about Trump’s comments mocking Blasey Ford, subcommittee chair Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said he was “troubled by any rhetoric, including from the president, that would deter survivors from ever coming forward.”

His spokesperson issued this statement to USA TODAY Sports: “Over the course of this year, I have witnessed time and time again the courage and bravery exhibited by survivors coming forward to share their stories to drive systemic change, and I am troubled by any rhetoric, including from the president, that would deter survivors from ever coming forward.

"The purpose of our investigation is to make certain athletes can participate in their sport without fear of abuse and our subcommittee remains committed to being a safe place for them to share their stories.”

Asked about the incongruity of Trump’s mockery as Blumenthal and his colleagues prepared to listen to more survivor statements as well as testimony from the leaders of various sports governing bodies in a scandal that has consumed the U.S. Olympic movement, Blumenthal replied: “The strength and courage of these survivors at the hearing today should inspire us to move forward and reject the really contemptuous voices of a different era. We need to move forward rather than heeding the shaming and silencing voices that have caused so many survivors to remain silent.”