During a rally Tuesday night in Southaven, Mississippi, President Donald Trump dramatically changed course and, after days of being restrained in his response to Christine Blasey Ford’s accusations, mocked her Senate testimony outlining an alleged sexual assault at the hands of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Before a partisan crowd, Trump put on an affected voice and dismissed and attempted to discredit Ford’s accusation by highlighting the gaps in her memory about the evening, now, 30-plus years later.
Here’s Trump on the stump:
What he’s going through – 36 years ago this happened. I had one beer! Right? I had one beer! Well, you think it was – nope, it was one beer! Oh, good. How did you get home? 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. I don’t know. I don’t know! I don’t know! What neighborhood was it in? 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. And a man’s life is in tatters. A man’s life is shattered. His wife is shattered. His daughters who are beautiful, incredible young kids. They destroy people. They want to destroy people. These are really evil people.
The moment was truly jarring departure from Trump’s somewhat restrained rhetoric about Ford, but not a particularly surprising one.
