Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday rejected the idea that only women are qualified to decide the veracity of sexual assault accusations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
“We’re looking for the truth here,” McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters when asked why no Republican women were making decisions about Kavanaugh. All Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee are men, a fact that Kavanaugh’s opponents have pointed out as Republicans consider the nomination.
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“I don’t think because you happen to be a male you’re disqualified from listening to the evidence and making a decision based upon the evidence,” he said.
Republicans have hired an unnamed woman to ask Kavanaugh’s accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, about her accusations of sexual assault at a committee hearing scheduled for Thursday. Opponents of Kavanaugh have said that move was made to avoid having only men question Ford, and McConnell said the goal is to ensure the hearing is conducted professionally.
Democrats complained Tuesday that they did not know the name of the woman Republicans hired, and said they know little else about how the hearing will operate on Thursday.
