WASHINGTON (JTA) — A South Carolina congressman made a joke about Abraham Lincoln groping Ruth Bader Ginsburg, mocking the controversy over a woman who accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of assaulting her 36 years ago.
“I thought I was going to be late. Did you all hear the latest late-breaking news from the Kavanaugh hearings?” Rep. Ralph Norman, a Republican, said at an event Thursday in Rock Hill, South Carolina, the Herald newspaper reported. “Ruth Bader Ginsburg came out that she was groped by Abraham Lincoln.”
Ginsburg, 85, is the oldest justice on the court. A reliable liberal vote, she has said she has plans to serve through the term of President Donald Trump.
Kavanaugh’s confirmation votes have been delayed by the accusation by Christine Blasey Ford that Kavanaugh assaulted her when both were teenagers. Ford is in hiding because of death threats. She and Kavanaugh have been invited to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee next week about her accusation.
Norman, whose 5th District borders North Carolina, won a surprisingly tight race against Democrat Archie Parnell in a special election a year ago. He faces Parnell again in November.
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