Contrary to endless denials from Democrats and leaders on the Left, advocacy groups did, in fact, pay protesters who vocally opposed the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court and accosted Republican senators.
Their intent, according to a top editor for Vice News, was to attempt to create “viral moments,” which includes the elevator confrontation of Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ).
Appearing on ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday, Shawna Thomas said one of the women who accosted Flake on September 28 worked for the advocacy group UltraViolet and “was paid” to “steer people in the right ways to be able to confront senators.”
Host Jonathan Karl said, “So there were paid — ” before Thomas cut him off. “There were people who were paid by organizations like UltraViolet, to — to try to harness that energy in a way that would make the viral moments that we ended up seeing.”
On its website, UltraViolet says it is a “powerful and rapidly growing community of people mobilized to fight sexism and create a more inclusive world that accurately represents all women, from politics and government to media and pop culture.”
“We fight attacks against women and work toward a proactive vision of what equality looks like for women. We demand accountability from individuals, the media, and institutions that perpetuate sexist narratives or seek to limit the rights, safety, and economic security of women. We leverage culture, politics, the news, and our rapid-response model to mobilize millions of people, quickly,” the site says.
Thomas later tried to walk back her admission that there were paid protesters at anti-Kavanaugh rallies, writing on Twitter that “there were some official organizations in the mix who have staff & consultants that were part of these protests. And some of them were helping individuals with tactics. That is not the same as ppl being paid to protest who don’t care about this issue.”
Fox News has reported that one of the women who confronted Flake is the co-executive director of the Center for Popular Democracy, which receives funding from billionaire George Soros.
So once again, President Trump was right. “The very rude elevator screamers are paid professionals only looking to make Senators look bad. Don’t fall for it!” he wrote on Twitter on Friday.
Below is the ugly scene with protesters cornering Flake in a Senate elevator.