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FLASHBACK: Kamala Harris Called Kavanaugh Accuser ‘A True Profile In Courage’

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Mary Margaret Olohan Social Issues Reporter
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  • Democratic California Sen. Kamala Harris formerly praised Christine Blasey Ford as a “true profile in courage.”
  • She also aggressively questioned Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh on his abortion stances and later on Ford’s allegations that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her. 
  • “I sat through those hearings,” Harris tweeted in September 2019. “Brett Kavanaugh lied to the U.S. Senate and most importantly to the American people. He was put on the Court through a sham process and his place on the Court is an insult to the pursuit of truth and justice.”

Sen. Kamala Harris formerly praised Christine Blasey Ford as a “true profile in courage” and aggressively questioned Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018 regarding Ford’s allegations that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her.

The California senator, who is running alongside 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden, emphasized repeatedly during the Kavanaugh hearings in September 2018 that she believed Ford’s allegations and praised Ford for her courage.

A year after the FBI concluded its investigation into Kavanaugh and found “no corroboration of the allegations,” Harris tweeted: “I sat through those hearings. Brett Kavanaugh lied to the U.S. Senate and most importantly to the American people. He was put on the Court through a sham process and his place on the Court is an insult to the pursuit of truth and justice.”

“He must be impeached,” she added. (RELATED: ‘I Want The Same Equal Treatment’: Biden Accuser Tara Reade Tears Into Media, Women’s Groups, Democratic Politicians)

In another September 2019 tweet, she noted that it had been a year since Ford came before the Senate Judiciary Committee, saying: “I believed her then and I believe it now: she is a true profile in courage.”

Clips of Harris’ aggressive lines of questioning Kavanaugh went viral on social media during the Kavanaugh hearings. Before Ford came forward with her allegations September 16, Harris questioned the Supreme Court justice nominee on his views on abortion and Roe v. Wade.

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She also posted upwards of 3,600 different Facebook ads opposing Kavanaugh’s confirmation with a petition and an opportunity to donate to Harris’ campaign. (RELATED: Politifact Corrects Kamala Harris For Lying About Kavanaugh’s Stance On Contraceptives)

After Ford went public with her allegations, Harris also questioned Kavanaugh minutely over the particulars of the allegations, repeatedly asking him whether he would be willing to ask the White House to conduct an FBI investigation into his conduct.

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Kavanaugh responded that he had undergone six background investigations over the course of 26 years and that Harris had witness testimonies before her that did not support Ford’s claims.

“Ok, I’m going to take that as a no and we can move on,” Harris said, before asking him to explain why he believed that he was the victim of a conspiracy, comparing his background to Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, and asking him if he believed it was possible “for men to both be friends with some women and treat other women badly.”

President Donald Trump called Harris’ treatment of Kavanaugh “extraordinarily nasty” following the announcement she had been tapped to run as vice president. (RELATED: Kamala Harris Calls For Kavanaugh Impeachment, Says ‘The Fact That Something Has Not Been Proven Doesn’t Mean It Didn’t Occur’)

“She was nasty to a level that was just a horrible thing … the way she treated now Justice Kavanaugh, and I won’t forget that soon,” Trump said to reporters Tuesday afternoon.

Harris would go on to support other members of the #METOO movement, including women who accused Biden of sexual misconduct. Eight women said that Biden touched them inappropriately or violated their personal space and made them uncomfortable, Business Insider reported in May.

“I believe them and I respect them being able to tell their story and having the courage to do it,” Harris said in April 2019. Asked if Biden should run for president, Harris said: “He’s going to have to make that decision for himself. I wouldn’t tell him what to do.”

Biden has also been accused of sexual assault by his former Senate staffer Tara Reade, who accused Biden of kissing her, touching her, and penetrating her with his fingers in 1993. Harris did not directly say whether she believed Reade, but said in April that Reade “has a right to tell her story, and I believe that, and I believe Joe Biden believes that, too.”

“The Joe Biden I know is somebody who really has fought for women and empowerment of women and for women’s equality and rights,” she added. (RELATED: Kamala Harris Dismisses Kavanaugh’s Pocket Constitution: ‘That Book You Carry’)

“She’s doing it, I believe, because she knows that this is an important matter,” Harris said of Ford’s allegations in September 2018, Politico reports. “It’s a serious matter. And she has the courage to come forward. She has nothing to gain. What does she have to gain?”


In 2019, the Daily Caller News Foundation exclusively obtained video footage of Ford’s lawyer saying that putting “an asterisk next to” Kavanaugh’s name before “he takes a scalpel” to Roe v. Wade was “part of what motivated” Ford to speak out.

“He will always have an asterisk next to his name,” Ford’s lawyer, Debra Katz said at an “Applied Feminism and #MeToo” conference in April 2019. “When he takes a scalpel to Roe v. Wade, we will know who he is, we know his character, and we know what motivates him, and that is important; it is important that we know, and that is part of what motivated Christine.”

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