Senator Angus King (I-Maine) on Wednesday addressed President Trump’s attacks against Christine Blasey Ford during a rally Tuesday night, saying that the president’s remarks “made me feel sort of sick.”
In an appearance on CNN, King said he took issue with Trump mocking Ford at a rally in Mississippi.
Ford testified last week before the Senate Judiciary Committee, saying that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her while the two were in high school in the 1980s.
{mosads}”How did you get home?” Trump said. “‘I don’t remember.’ How’d you get there? ‘I don’t remember.’ Where is the place? ‘I don’t remember.’ How many years ago was it? ‘I don’t know.'”
“What neighborhood was it in?” he continued, as the crowd cheered and clapped. “‘I don’t know.’ Where’s the house?’ ‘I don’t know.’ Upstairs, downstairs, where was it? ‘I don’t know, but I had one beer. That’s the only thing I remember.'”
The comments were a significant departure from initial Trump comments on Ford’s testimony, where he called her very credible. Reportedly, his aides were impressed with how he handled the situation.
King, who caucuses with Democrats, pointed to that shift, saying that “to turn her testimony into a political rally punchline … I think ‘appalling’ is an appropriate term.”
He also said that Trump “mischaracterized” her recollection of the events when she said she “vividly remembered” the assault.
King also said that he thinks that the president’s comments make it more difficult for the Kavanaugh swing voters — Sens. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) — to vote “yes” for confirmation.