Former Obama official and current CNN host Jim Sciutto argued Thursday that unsubstantiated allegations leveled at Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh accusing Kavanaugh of running and participating in a “gang rape” ring when he was just 15 are just part of daily life in politics.
Sciutto appeared alongside political analyst Scott Jennings, who argued that Democrats citing Brett Kavanaugh’s “temperament” during an investigative Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last week are overreaching and that Kavanaugh was “justified” in being angry because he’s been repeatedly and flagrantly accused of multiple counts of sexual misconduct.
“I wonder how they would react if somebody showed up and ran a three-week or four-week campaign to call them a rapist, a gang-rapist, a drunken — you know, no account whatsoever,” Jennings argued. “I don’t think they would react very well. To be honest with you, I think Judge Kavanaugh reacted exactly the way most Americans would react to being smeared.”
Sciutto, apparently, disagreed.
“I gotta challenge that, Scott. Let me challenge that, because it’s become a talking point,” the CNN anchor said. “Here’s the difference, Scott,” Sciutto contended. “This is a person being considered for a lifetime position. The fact is, this is Washington, this is politics. Political candidates have been accused of horrible things for years, and it becomes — how do you respond to that?”
“Gang rape?” Jennings replied.
WATCH:
This is … politics.
At that point, moderator Margaret Hoover jumped into note that while politicians are used to mudslinging, a respected jurist up for a position on the nation’s highest court might not be.