Conservatives and liberals are deeply divided over the treatment of those who have been accused of sexual harassment, according to a new American Barometer poll.
The survey, conducted by Hill.TV, found that 57 percent of respondents who said they had strong liberal beliefs and 52 percent of those who lean liberal believe the treatment of those accused is “largely fair and appropriate.”
Conservative, on the other hand, widely believe treatment of the accused has crossed a line.
Seventy-two percent of those with strong conservative beliefs said they believed treatment of those accused of sexual harassment “had gone too far,” while 66 percent of respondents who leaned conservative said the same.
The survey comes days after Brett Kavanaugh was sworn in as a Supreme Court justice after facing sexual misconduct allegations from three women.
His first accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee late last month, a week before he was ultimately confirmed.
Ford detailed her accusation that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a party in 1982 when they were both in high school. Kavanaugh forcefully denied the allegations in a subsequent testimony before the panel. He also denied the sexual misconduct allegations levied against him by Deborah Ramirez and Julie Swetnick.
Democrats largely rallied around Ford, while Republicans came to Kavanaugh’s defense, saying he was the victim of a character assassination.
“I think that partisanship really drove perceptions of whether Kavanaugh was treated fairly or unfairly,” Democratic pollster Molly Murphy told Hill.TV’s Joe Concha on “What America’s Thinking.”
The American Barometer was conducted on October 6-7 among 1,000 registered voters. Kavanaugh was confirmed by the Senate on Saturday.
The poll’s margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
— Julia Manchester
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