Brett Kavanaugh, Christine Blasey Ford Senate appearances gripping, but may not prove decisive
Christine Blasey Ford gave compelling and gripping testimony in Washington today but Brett Kavanaugh’s impassioned and angry response was no less powerful.
In the end, it is unclear if this incredible spectacle, which saw both Ford and Kavanaugh in tears at various points, will shift the entrenched partisan positions which people in Washington and around the US, have taken on the issue.
Ford told the Senate committee that she was terrified and she sounded like it as she outlined in an often wavering voice what she claimed Kavanaugh did to her at a party in 1982.
For someone who was recounting an assault she says happened 36 years ago, Ford did not come across as either flakey or too polished. She apologised for the gaps in her memory but was upfront about them. She spoke at length about her fears of coming forward with her allegations and the impact which she says the assault has had on her life.
But when it was Kavanaugh’s turn to testify, his words were also compelling and credible. The clearly angry judge gave impassioned and tearful testimony describing his treatment as an orchestrated political hit which he said had permanently destroyed his himself, his family and his good name.
He denied ever sexually assaulting anyone and pointed out holes in Ford’s story, especially the fact that fours others allegedly at the party said they didn’t remember any such event.
For Ford, the key moment came early, when she was asked how certain she was that the person who assaulted her at the party in 1982 was Kavanaugh, she replied without hesitation “100 per cent”.
When asked again if it could be a case of mistaken identity, she said “absolutely not”. Just like Anita Hill did in her 1991 testimony against judge Clarence Thomas for sexual harassment, Ford’s appearance will garner widespread sympathy because she came across as credible and human.
But remarkably, she was subjected to no rigorous questioning about her claims because Republican Senators ceded their questions to their hired attorney Rachel Mitchell.
Mitchell was underwhelming at best. She threw Ford a series of rambling questions which appeared to imply that Ford was politically motivated and that her memory of events was unreliable. But at no stage was Ford directly challenged by Mitchell on these issues. Meanwhile, Democrats Senators delivered a series of strongly supportive statements, applauding her courage and stating that she had, in the words of one, “given America an amazing teaching moment”.
Yet Kavanaugh’s appearance was equally persuasive, even though both of them clearly cannot be right.
While Ford’s testimony may convince many, others will be persuaded by the strength of Kavanaugh’s rebuttal. In the end, his future remains in the hands of the Republican majority in the Senate. Whether today’s emotional hearings will be enough to make any of them change their vote remains to be seen.
Cameron Stewart is also US Contributor for Sky News Australia
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