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Trump's Criticism of Ford's Testimony Made the Difference
PJ Media ^ | 10/6/2018 | J. Christian Adams

Posted on 10/07/2018 1:22:23 PM PDT by RightGeek

Donald Trump can see over the horizon, and it made all the difference in the Kavanaugh nomination. With the benefit of hindsight, it seems the Kavanaugh nomination turned on two events. First, as I discussed here, Kavanaugh chose to fight. He wasn't going to quietly and gently absorb all of the false, outlandish accusations.

Trump's speech October 2 in Southaven, Mississippi, was the second event that drove Kavanaugh toward confirmation. Trump rehashed Christine Ford's testimony.

How did you get home? I don’t remember. How did 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.

You'd hardly know it at the time how this helped Kavanaugh. Democrats and MSNBC pundits were outraged. NeverTrump Republicans were mortified. Even Republican senators critical to Kavanaugh's confirmation were critical of Trump.

The Washington Examiner's Robert Donachie adopted the language of the Democrats when he wrote — as many did — that Trump "mocked" Ford.

Trump wasn't mocking Ford, he was transcribing her.

It turns out Trump's transcription made the difference. He accomplished in 36 seconds what took Senator Susan Collins nearly an hour to do — shine a 100,000 megawatt spotlight on the failure of Ford to convince us that Brett Kavanaugh did anything to her.

The pearl clutching about Trump's speech among Republicans was misplaced. The Washington Post has a comprehensive examination of how Kavanaugh's confirmation was sealed, and Trump's 36 seconds made all the difference.....

But Trump’s 36-second off-script jeremiad proved a key turning point toward victory for the polarizing nominee, White House officials and Kavanaugh allies said, turbocharging momentum behind Kavanaugh just as his fate appeared most in doubt.

[SNIP]

(Excerpt) Read more at pjmedia.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: bloggers; winning
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1 posted on 10/07/2018 1:22:23 PM PDT by RightGeek
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To: RightGeek

Trump recapped her testimony concisely and accurately and it was empty and vague.


2 posted on 10/07/2018 1:30:05 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; Not Averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: RightGeek

Trump knows how and when to fight. It is why we love and voted for him


3 posted on 10/07/2018 1:32:37 PM PDT by Nifster (I see puppy dogs in the clouds)
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To: RightGeek

Interesting take. I remember, when I heard what he said about her testimony, and then when they said he mocked her, I thought … How is he mocking her? In a summary way he is just repeating what she said. Meanwhile, the article claims his summary made it easier for everyone to see through her “testimony” and see there was no “there, there”.


4 posted on 10/07/2018 1:37:02 PM PDT by JohnEBoy
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To: RightGeek

President Trump’s handling of the “7th FBI investigation” helped a lot, too!!!!


5 posted on 10/07/2018 1:37:53 PM PDT by Honorary Serb (Kosovo is Serbia! Free Srpska! Abolish ICTY!)
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To: RightGeek

Will they investigate her and then charge her with perjury at the least and fraud and sedition for this circus fiasco?


6 posted on 10/07/2018 1:45:17 PM PDT by Blue Highway
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To: RightGeek

I don’t buy the Trump influence here. It was Kavanaugh himself that turned this around if anyone did. And maybe even he didn’t. This was a straight political battle with 96 party loyalists and 4 renegades.

That was set in stone when he was nominated.

Did the Trump speech change the vote of:

Manchin - Absolutely not.
Flake - No, not for this jerk. He voted yes but certainly not on principle.
Collins - Possibly but I doubt it seriously.
Murkowski - It was a no vote from the get-go.


7 posted on 10/07/2018 1:46:41 PM PDT by InterceptPoint (Ted, you finally endorsed. About time)
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To: RightGeek

Trump gets to the heart of the matter and presents in a clear, concise way. Many people don’t have anything approaching this ability. Many of them are Democrats and rhat’s Really not a pit down, just an observation formed over the years.


8 posted on 10/07/2018 1:48:19 PM PDT by Crucial
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To: InterceptPoint

Of course the talking point now is that he cannot be a good and impartial justice because he hates the dems too much.

Do ya think??????


9 posted on 10/07/2018 1:48:30 PM PDT by shelterguy
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To: RightGeek
The most important quote:

"Perhaps they should listen to Senator Richard Blumenthal, the hero of Helm's Deep. Again, the Washington Post.

The GOP’s hardball approach left Democrats shaken and defeated.

“They are succeeding because they have broken all the rules and norms,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). “They adopted the strategy that the best defense is a good offense.”

To repeat:

"They [the GOP] are succeeding because they have broken all the rules and norms"

“They adopted the strategy that the best defense is a good offense.”

The GOP full of Trump winnamines!

10 posted on 10/07/2018 1:50:05 PM PDT by ScaniaBoy (Part of the Right Wing Research & Attack Machine)
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To: JohnEBoy

Remember, most of the congresscritters have IQ’s less than room temperature. They are coached and protected from being run over in traffic by paid handlers who read their mail, read the legislation and fundamentally tell them every thing to do.Most of the ones I’ve met are alkys or seriously on the sauce too.


11 posted on 10/07/2018 1:52:32 PM PDT by Don Corleone (Nothing makes the delusional more furious than truth.)
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To: RightGeek

I think it was Trump, Graham, Collins, and Kavanaugh himself that pushed this over the top. All of these people went directly to the voters. And the voters scared the democrats and galvanized the republicans.


12 posted on 10/07/2018 1:55:35 PM PDT by poinq
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To: InterceptPoint

What this Trump statement did was change the tone of the debate over Ford, from “credible” (repeated ad nauseam for two weeks as I’m sure you’ve red), to comical.

It sapped all the power out of her innocent victim ploy, speaking directly to the truth - that this was a hoax engineered by the Democrats, and this was the proper level of contempt with which to regard it.

Basically, he changed attitudes. Once it was easy to agree that her story was so full of holes no one should take it seriously, the bottom fell out and the votes fell into line.

How does Collins make that vote without Trump preparing the ground? She might not, in that scenario.


13 posted on 10/07/2018 1:55:42 PM PDT by thoughtomator (Number of arrested coup conspirators to date: 1)
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To: RightGeek
Nobody gave up.
That’s the key.
I guess people still have to write their columns though.
14 posted on 10/07/2018 1:56:40 PM PDT by right way right (May we remain sober over mere men, for God really is our only true hope.)
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To: shelterguy

Too bad... Dems gambled and LOST. I hope they created a conservative “monster” who judges with a chip on his shoulder against them for decades.


15 posted on 10/07/2018 1:57:38 PM PDT by Doctor Freeze
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To: Doctor Freeze

Revenge is a dish best served.......against democrats for many years.


16 posted on 10/07/2018 1:59:49 PM PDT by shelterguy
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To: thoughtomator

How does Collins make that vote without Trump preparing the ground? She might not, in that scenario.
+++++
I agree that Collins was the wild card. And you may be correct. Perhaps Trump did give that speech to put her support over the finish line.

But that is the only vote that Trump could have turned. And yes it did give her cover.

You could be right and that might have been the plan. But I watched that speech, a good one, and it looked like Trump being Trump to me.


17 posted on 10/07/2018 2:08:28 PM PDT by InterceptPoint (Ted, you finally endorsed. About time)
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To: RightGeek

The left just doesn’t get it. Trump says what a great many if not most people are thinking and know to be true. This liberates them to be more likely to speak their minds and vote their conscience rather than going along with what Hollywood, the media, academia and the Dems tell them what they should do and how they should think.


18 posted on 10/07/2018 2:12:39 PM PDT by Atticus
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To: InterceptPoint

Check it out, the way Trump manipulates the press is so blatant. Notice how he says something that is absolutely true, but in a way that enrages the rabid left. So they cover it endlessly replaying it over and over and over while commenting on how terrible it is... destroying their own credibility while informing the public of what Trump wants them to know. They are so inflexible and predictable in their operations that they are mentally incapable to help themselves from promoting Trump’s message in this way.


19 posted on 10/07/2018 2:15:17 PM PDT by thoughtomator (Number of arrested coup conspirators to date: 1)
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To: RightGeek
“I don’t know” is what children say.


20 posted on 10/07/2018 2:38:10 PM PDT by conservativeimage (Islam Kills Everything - The FBI Lets It)
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