After a couple days of showing uncharacteristic restraint about the sexual assault allegations against his Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trump did on Friday morning what we all knew he would eventually do: Start acting gross.
He issued tweets blaming Kavanaugh's accuser, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, for not reporting the attack when she was 15 and then charged: TAKE THE VOTE!
That abrupt change in Trump's tenor from, let's go through "a full process" and "hear everybody out" to let's vote N-O-W, is one of several signs that Republicans are growing desperate to make the vote happen ASAP. The Kavanaugh nomination is taking on water—his approvals are tanking heading into the weekend and Republicans are trying to plug that leak.
Here's a couple other signs of GOP desperation:
• Mitch McConnell's assertion at the Values Voters Summit Friday that "In the very near future, Judge Kavanaugh will be on the United States Supreme Court"
Two things are happening here: McConnell is trying to paint Kavanaugh's confirmation as a foregone conclusion; and he's sending the signal to Dr. Blasey Ford that testifying would just be an exercise in futility. Here's someone who knows a little something about McConnell and his tactics—former Deputy Chief of Staff to Democratic Leader Harry Reid.
• The GOP response to Dr. Blasey Ford's requests for a "fair" hearing that would "ensure her safety"
Dr. Blasey Ford made several key requests before agreeing to testify: 1) Kavanaugh would go first; 2) Senate Republicans wouldn't use an outside counsel to question her; 3) there would be other witnesses, specifically, the third person in the room at the time of the assault, Mark Judge.
Guess how many of those wishes Senate Republicans granted her? ZERO.
The bone Republicans are throwing her is that the hearing will be moved from Monday to Wednesday (she requested Thursday) and they will ensure her physical safety. How chivalrous.
Yes, that's enraging, but here's exactly what Republicans are doing—trying to intimidate her into not testifying. Blocking Dr. Blasey Ford's testimony is their main goal. If she doesn't testify, Republicans can take the vote forthwith and time is of the essence since Kavanaugh is bleeding support right now.
On top of that, Republicans are clearly afraid that credible testimony from Dr. Blasey Ford could torpedo Kavanaugh's nomination. They do NOT want a well-educated, sympathetic, white woman, wife and mother to make a credible case against Kavanaugh. It would be disastrous. And the harder they worked to discredit her during the hearing, the more they would alienate a bloc of voters most likely turn out during the midterms: college-educated white women.
The fact that Republicans from Trump to McConnell to the Senate Judiciary Committee are growing more obstinate by the second is a dead giveaway that they know the Kavanaugh confirmation is teetering on the brink.