You can tell that Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court is in trouble just from the unhinged reactions on Fox News Wednesday night. None was more unhinged than Joe diGenova who almost became Donald Trump’s attorney.
As accusations of sexual abuse continued to mount against Kavanaugh on Wednesday, I saw no concern that the nominee might, in fact, be the wrong man for a lifetime position on the highest court in the U.S. Instead, everybody seemed angry – no, furious – that such questions were being raised at all.
The Hannity show aired in Washington. Perhaps that’s because host Sean Hannity thought Bedtime BFF Trump needed some extra TLC. Or advice.
Or maybe Hannity was the one needing comforting. He spent the first 22:49 of his show ranting and raving about the nomination, i.e. attacking Democrats. At one point, he even dragged Hillary Clinton's name into the tirade.
Then, without a commercial break, Hannity brought on a panel of like-minded Kavanaugh supporters, including diGenova. For a while under consideration to become Trump’s attorney, diGenova now acts as a shadow attorney for Trump, as Politico explains.
As per the Fox norm, diGenova didn’t just refute Democratic criticisms of Kavanaugh nor respectfully offer support. No, diGenova deliberately painted Democrats as enemies of America.
First, diGenova accused Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee of “purposely” trying to “ruin a good man” as well as his wife and daughters. Next, diGenova went after Sen. Mazie Hirono for calling on men to “Just shut up and step up. Do the right thing, for a change.” Hirono was talking about responses to sexual abuse, not ordering men to stop talking altogether, obviously.
But diGenova didn’t care. It was almost as though he were looking for an excuse to demonize Democrats:
DIGENOVA: And let me say this to Mazie Hirono, the Hawaiian senator – Democrat – who told all the men of America to shut up. Tonight, I say to her, “Shut up, Senator, shut up! I’m sick of you. I’m sick of Dianne Feinstein, I’m sick of Senator [Richard] Blumenthal and all the Democrats who have one thing in mind. They want power! They thirst for power. And they don’t care who they ruin in the process.
This is a moment of disgrace for the United States Senate and if they don’t confirm him to the United States Senate [sic], the Republicans will lose the Senate. This is a national disgrace!
Did Hannity try to dial down such inflammatory rhetoric? Heck no! He turned up the heat by playing the conservative victim. “Could you imagine anybody saying to any woman ever, ‘Shut up’ and what the reaction would have been?” he asked. Pay no attention to the fact that Hannity's beloved Trump boasted about committing sexual assault, which is way beyond saying “Shut up.” Hannity certainly pays no attention to it.
Not surprisingly, diGenova used Hannity’s “victimhood” as a pretext for more hate mongering.
DIGENOVA: Yes, it’s just amazing. And I am so sick of the Democrats on this committee, what they are doing. Not just to Judge Kavanaugh, to the country!
crossposted from Newshounds
