“Morning Joe” guest Donny Deustch said this morning that he thinks Brett Kavanaugh will not be confirmed to the Supreme Court. He also said Republicans face a “lose/lose” situation in the political fight over the sexual assault allegations against Donald Trump’s nominee.
MSNBC's Donny Deutsch says Kavanaugh confirmation would be 'suicidal' for GOP https://t.co/BPRh7HB29m
— Raw Story (@RawStory) September 17, 2018
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California professor Christine Blasey Ford has come forward to publicly discuss her claims that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her while a friend stood watch when all three were teenagers in the 1980’s.
This morning both Ford’s attorney and Kellyanne Conway have said on television that they think Kavanaugh’s accuser should testify under oath before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“There is one option they can’t walk away from, this is where kind of culturally and politically the worlds are colliding,” Deutsch said. “The subhead of the #MeToo movement is, it’s time for men to listen. If the Republicans are saying we’re not even going to listen, you know, we don’t even want to hear it out, that is a suicidal mission.”
Deutsch expressed the opinions of many in saying that he thinks Ford’s accusations are credible. And he said Republicans must take them seriously or forever hurt themselves politically.
“I would hate to be any Republican going forward in their career, not just in this election that will stand up and say, ‘No, we weren’t even willing to listen,’” Deutsch said. “That would be going against an entire societal wave that is happening in our culture, that is going against an entire gender reboot of who we are.”
This year is being called “the year of the woman” in politics, and women are expected to turn out in droves for the November 6th midterm elections. Kavanaugh’s confirmation could risk GOP congressional majorities by energizing the women’s vote even more than it already is.
“Not only the House is gone, will put the Senate in real, real, real, real play,” Deutsch said on the topic. “If the Republicans are tone deaf here it will be a death spiral for them.”
Deutsch said he did not believe Republicans will risk their Senate majority to defend Trump’s Supreme Court nominee.
“I hope there’s Republicans listening, this is not a grayish issue, this is a black and white. at the very least you need to say, ‘No, we’re not going to not hear, we need to listen,’” Deutsch added. “I believe Kavanaugh is dead at this point. I would be shocked if he was ever a Supreme Court justice.”
Deutsch then addressed the political downsides of even bringing in Ford to testify, saying:
“The Republicans are in a lose/lose. Painting a picture of a “Republican male grilling, investigating, putting on the pressure a victim who something in your gut tells you this is not being made up.”
“How do you go at her? Picture women watching at home. And all women in some form or another have felt victimized in their life. This is an extreme case, attempted rape. Watching women at home watching every one of those male Republicans grill and attack this victim. Boy, I would not like to be one of those questioners and have to answer to women in my district or anywhere.”
The regular “Morning Joe” guest then finished his monologue by giving his advice to Republicans:
“Duck, do the right thing and say look at the very least you have to hear this thing through but I would not want to be one of those men attacking this woman in front of the nation.”
This year, Republicans ignore the concerns of women at their own peril, Donnie Deutsch said. https://t.co/3sly6FgCHn
— Crooks and Liars (@crooksandliars) September 17, 2018
Deutsch is probably right. To confirm Brett Kavanaugh would be political suicide for the Republican Party and for the U.S. senators who vote to confirm him. This doesn’t mean that they won’t vote to confirm him, however, because it appears that the only goal they have is to stack the U.S. Supreme Court with right-wing ideologues for decades to come.
I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.
