(NEWS CENTER Maine) — Senator Susan Collins called President Trump's mocking of the woman who accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault "plain wrong".
The President on Tuesday, speaking to a packed hall in Mississippi, openly mocked Christine Blasey Ford, Kavanaugh’s accuser, remarking on her difficulty remembering aspects of the alleged attack 36 years ago when the two were in high school.
"The President's comments were just plain wrong," Senator Collins told reporters Wednesday.
Trump described the nation's current political climate as "an important time for our country." Though he did not mention the #MeToo movement directly by name, he went on to suggest that men like Kavanaugh are under siege from accusations of assault.
"It's a damn sad situation, okay?" Trump said to the Southaven, Miss., crowd. "And we better start as a country getting smart, and getting tough."
Collins voice joined with others from Capitol Hill including Senator Kirsten Gillbrand (D-NY) who said, "I thought his comments were disgraceful and shows that he has no empathy for survivors of sexual violence. It was just another statement by our president to show that he doesn't value women. And I really was disguised."
Senator Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D) Senate Minority Leader also rebuked the mocking of Dr. Ford saying, "President Trump's outright mockery of a sexual assault survivor, riddled as it was with falsehoods, was reprehensible; beneath the office of the presidency and beneath common decency from one person to another. President Trump owes Dr. Ford an immediate apology."