September 27, 2018

Read These Powerful Reactions to Christine Blasey Ford’s Testimony

“I am crying. Are you crying?”

James West/Mother Jones

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Christine Blasey Ford’s appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday sparked a range of supportive reactions from all corners of the internet. Survivors of sexual abuse and allies expressed solidarity with Ford, and even critics eager to see another conservative jurist elevated to the Supreme Court acknowledged the power of her testimony and the political danger it may pose for Republicans.  

Many observers on social media and cable TV simply acknowledged the emotional devastation of watching Ford tearfully recall details of her alleged assault at the hands of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

https://twitter.com/stellabugbee/status/1045327839724273668

Some journalists drew attention to the way Ford interacted with Republican senators, including Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), and noted how it reflects the way women are socialized to be “collegial.”

https://twitter.com/lpolgreen/status/1045328277710286848

Other commentators fixated on the clinical terms Ford used to describe her assault and the trauma and anxiety she has experienced in the years since. 

https://twitter.com/ezraklein/status/1045332841557610497

Ford’s testimony even struck a chord with Fox News hosts like Chris Wallace, who called the hearing a “disaster” for Republicans. “Nobody could listen to her deliver those words and talk about the assault and the impact it has had on her life and not have your heart go out to her,” he said. He added, “She obviously was traumatized by an event.” 

Steve Schmidt, who managed John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign, called the entire event a “political disaster” for Republicans and criticized the strategy of having Arizona sex crimes prosecutor Rachel Mitchell question Ford in lieu of the all-male Republican committee membership doing it themselves. 

Ford’s account of the assault was disputed by some right-wing commentators. On NRATV, the channel run by the National Rifle Association, host Grant Stinchfield said Ford was being used as a “pawn” by “people who hate the Constitution and Judge Kavanaugh.” 

 

Ford has described receiving death threats and hate mail since her name became public weeks ago. “I am here today not because I want to be,” she said during her opening statement. “I am terrified.” 

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In "News Never Pays," our fearless CEO, Monika Bauerlein, connects the dots on several concerning media trends that, taken together, expose the fallacy behind the tragic state of journalism right now: That the marketplace will take care of providing the free and independent press citizens in a democracy need, and the Next New Thing to invest millions in will fix the problem. Bottom line: Journalism that serves the people needs the support of the people. That's the Next New Thing.

And it's what MoJo and our community of readers have been doing for 47 years now.

But staying afloat is harder than ever.

In "This Is Not a Crisis. It's The New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, why this moment is particularly urgent, and how we can best communicate that without screaming OMG PLEASE HELP over and over. We also touch on our history and how our nonprofit model makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there: Letting us go deep, focus on underreported beats, and bring unique perspectives to the day's news.

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