The co-hosts of "Fox & Friends" suggested Monday that the flurry of sexual misconduct accusations against Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump's choice to fill the vacant seat on the Supreme Court, are the result of a smear campaign orchestrated by Democrats.
The program began with the TV trio reviewing not only the accusation made against Kavanaugh by California research psychologist Christine Blasey Ford but also a second allegation detailed Sunday by a former Yale classmate of Kavanaugh's, Deborah Ramirez.
"Keep in mind this woman is calling for the FBI to investigate, as are a number of top Democrats," co-host Steve Doocy explained to "Fox & Friends" viewers. "They say, 'Look, we can't have the vote until this is thoroughly investigated.' Meanwhile, the White House says, 'This is the latest in a coordinated smear campaign.'"
Anna Kooiman, a guest co-host, then explicitly stated what Doocy had merely implied with his comments.
"That's just it: the timing. Is this a 'drip, drip, drip' come up by the Democrats trying to delay everything until the midterm elections and really fire up their base, saying 'Republicans are bullies'? Although Republicans are the ones saying, 'We want to hear from Mrs. Ford," Kooiman mused aloud.
Doocy went on to mention Michael Avenatti, the lawyer best known for representing adult film star Stormy Daniels, who claims to have had an affair with Trump. As originally reported by Politico, Avenatti claimed on Sunday that he represents "a woman with credible information" about Kavanaugh and his high school friend Mark Judge, whom Ford has said was the other person in the room when Kavanaugh attacked her. In a Twitter post, Avenatti claimed to have "significant evidence" that Kavanaugh and Judge "would participate in the targeting of women with alcohol/drugs."
Doocy dismissed Avenatti's new accusations against Kavanaugh as "disgusting." Another "Fox & Friends" co-host, Brian Kilmeade, agreed that the allegations against Kavanaugh were politically motivated.
"So, is this enough?" Kilmeade said. "You wonder why — if this meant so much and it was so damaging, which allegedly it has been — why wouldn't it come out earlier? Why at this point? Why would you — why would four Dems know about it, two Dems investigating it, but the chairman of the Judiciary Committee didn't even know about it until yesterday when Ronan Farrow broke it?"
"Fox & Friends" then reported a statement made by a spokesman for Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who complained that important information had been withheld from him even though he is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "Yet again, Senate Democrats actively withheld information from the rest of the committee only to drop information at politically opportune moments," Grassley's spokesman complained.
The co-hosts then went on to discuss how Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., has called for the scheduled hearing to discuss Ford's accusations against Kavanaugh on Thursday to be delayed in light of the new allegations.
"Why would you cancel Thursday, because there is another allegation Sunday?" Kilmeade asked angrily. "You cancel Thursday? You shouldn't actually start moving forward?"
"It's all about politics," Doocy replied.
You can watch the full clip, via Media Matters, below.
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