White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said Sunday she is a victim of sexual assault during an interview defending the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court as he faces multiple allegations of sexual misconduct.
Conway’s clash with “State of the Union” host Jake Tapper on the confirmation fight took a personal turn as the two discussed whether or not Kavanaugh and one of his accusers, Christine Blasey Ford, came off as being believable during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last week.
“This is about whether or not this man, with his impeccable judicial temperament and qualifications in 12 years on the second highest court in this country is qualified to be on the United States supreme court,” Conway said on CNN. “What you saw the other day, even though a lot of it was a national disgrace, what you saw the other day was a senate judicial confirmation hearing. It is not a criminal or civil proceeding. And let me just say also it’s not a meeting of the #MeToo movement.”
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Conway then revealed that the issue is very personal to her because she herself is a victim of sexual assault, adding that she doesn’t expect Kavanaugh, journalists, or politicians to be held responsible for it.
“I feel very empathetic, frankly, for victims of sexual assault, and sexual harassment and rape — I’m a victim of sexual assault,” she said after a brief pause clearing her throat. “I don’t expect judge Kavanaugh or Jake Tapper or Jeff Flake or anybody to be held responsible for that. You have to be responsible for your own conduct. This is not Bill Cosby. Those comparisons on your network are a disgrace and the anchor should have called them out. This is not even Bill Clinton.”
Cosby was sentenced last week to three to 10 years in state prison for drugging and molesting a woman at his suburban Philadelphia home.
Clinton, meanwhile, has faced a number of sexual assault allegations over the years. He also was impeached by the House on charges of lying under oath and obstruction concerning his consensual affair with the White House intern Monica Lewinsky while he a president in the 1990s.
Conway went on to address the sexual assault victims who confronted Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., on an elevator after he said he would vote to pass Kavanaugh through the judiciary panel.
“I want those women who were sexually assaulted the other day who were confronting Jeff Flake, God bless them, but go blame the perpetrator. That’s who is responsible for the sexual assaults, the people who commit them,” she said.
“This is the first time I’ve ever heard you talk about something personal like that, and I’m really sorry,” Tapper said afterwards.
After that the viral elevator moment Flake was joined by Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine; and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska; in calling for a supplemental FBI background check, after which President Trump ordered a limited FBI probe in the multiple allegations Kavanaugh faces and denies.
Conway also said “don’t conflate” that her boss, President Trump, has been accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women with the Kavanaugh allegations
