Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) took the opportunity on Thursday to lavish praise on Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s accuser, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, saying her testimony was “powerful and credible,” adding, “I believe you.”
Blumenthal enthused:
I want to join in thanking you for being here today and just tell you I have found your testimony powerful and credible, and I believe you. You’re a teacher, correct? You have given America an amazing teaching moment. You may have other moments in the classroom, but you have inspired and enlightened America. You have inspired and given courage to women, as they have done to every one of our offices and many other public places. You have inspired and you have enlightened men in America to listen respectfully to women survivors and men who have survived sexual attack and that is a profound public service regardless of what happens with this nomination, and so the teachers of America, the people of America, should be really proud of what you have done.
And yet, seeing Blumenthal as someone who should vouch for someone’s credibility is a bit of a stretch:
And, of course, there is this: in 2003, Blumenthal addressed a rally in Bridgeport, saying of his supposed service in Vietnam, “When we returned, we saw nothing like this. Let us do better by this generation of men and women.”
In 2008, Blumenthal doubled down when he spoke to a group honoring veterans and senior citizens who sent presents to soldiers overseas, asserting. “We have learned something important since the days that I served in Vietnam. And you exemplify it. Whatever we think about the war, whatever we call it — Afghanistan or Iraq — we owe our military men and women unconditional support.”
As The New York Times noted in 2010:
There was one problem: Mr. Blumenthal, a Democrat now running for the United States Senate, never served in Vietnam. He obtained at least five military deferments from 1965 to 1970 and took repeated steps that enabled him to avoid going to war, according to records. The deferments allowed Mr. Blumenthal to complete his studies at Harvard; pursue a graduate fellowship in England; serve as a special assistant to The Washington Post’s publisher, Katharine Graham; and ultimately take a job in the Nixon White House.
Video of Blumenthal below: