One caller to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley’s office wished his staffer would “get raped.” Another wished the 85-year-old senator would “die from a heart attack.”
As the fight over Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh comes to its denouement in a hearing Thursday, the public’s feedback has shot over the top — and much of it aimed at Mr. Grassley, a pivotal figure.
“You’re a disgusting excuse for a human being, and I don’t know how you can live with yourself. I hope you never have children because they’ll be just as worthless as you are,” one caller said, according to Mr. Grassley’s office.
“Senator Grassley doesn’t have a spine and neither do you bitch,” another added.
Mr. Grassley’s promises of a “fair” hearing for both Judge Kavanaugh and chief accuser Christine Blasey Ford have enraged Democrats and left liberal activists fuming, saying it puts Ms. Blasey Ford at a disadvantage by turning it into a he-said, she-said affair.
Pro-Trump callers, meanwhile, have fired threats at Sen. Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican who has not yet decided how he’ll vote on Judge Kavanaugh, and has said he is awaiting the outcome of Thursday’s hearing.
“One man somewhere in the country called my office in Arizona and left a message saying that he was tired of me interrupting my president, and for that offense of allowing Dr. Ford to heard, for this offense, me and my family would taken out.”
Sen. Susan Collins, also an undecided Republican, said her office has fielded calls from people who have wished rape and impregnation on a female staffer.
And Sen. Ted Cruz and his wife were chased from a restaurant this week by anti-Kavanaugh protests.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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