Sen. Kamala Harris believed Christine Blasey Ford, but whether she believes Jacob Blake’s ex-girlfriend is another matter.
Ms. Harris offered her support Monday for Mr. Blake, 29, who remains hospitalized after being shot in the back by an officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin, speaking with him by phone and visiting with several of his relatives and attorneys at Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee.
She later called the meeting “really wonderful,” adding that she wanted to “express concern for their well-being and of course, for their brother and their son’s well-being, and to let them know that they have support.”
The well-wishes came even though Mr. Blake has been charged with sexually assaulting his ex-girlfriend, while Ms. Harris is known as a champion of the #MeToo movement, gaining national fame for her 2017 grilling of then-Judge Brett Kavanaugh.
During the confirmation hearings, the California Democrat said she believed Ms. Ford, who accused Mr. Kavanaugh of pinning her to a bed, groping her, and trying to remove her clothes while they were in high school.
Mr. Kavanaugh, whose nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court was ultimately confirmed, denied the allegations, but at a September 2017 hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Ms. Harris made it clear she didn’t believe him.
The senator told Ms. Ford: “I want to thank you for your courage, and I want to tell you, I believe you. I believe you.”
Blake family attorney Ben Crump said in a Monday statement: “In a moving moment, Jacob Jr. told Sen. Harris he was proud of her, and the senator told Jacob she was also proud of him and how he is working through his pain.”
Former NBC and Fox News host Megyn Kelly slammed the statement, tweeting, “PROUD of him?”
“He’s accused of breaking into a sleeping woman’s house, sexually assaulting her, humiliating her & later returning to harass her,” Ms. Kelly said, adding, “How about a word for his victim, Senator?”
Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden met Thursday with relatives of Mr. Blake, who may be paralyzed for life as a result of the Aug. 23 shooting that sparked days of Black Lives Matter protests and rioting in Kenosha, the latest city upended by unrest over Black men killed or injured in run-ins with police officers.
Sen. @KamalaHarris met with the family of #JacobBlake today, who joined by phone from his hospital bed. The family’s legal team released the following statement about the one-hour visit. #JusticeForJacobBlake pic.twitter.com/TQ7io0Clhe
— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) September 7, 2020
Officers responded to a 911 call after Mr. Blake allegedly violated an order to stay away from his ex-girlfriend, who had accused him of assaulting her May 3 after breaking into her home.
Mr. Blake was charged with third-degree sexual assault, criminal trespass, and disorderly conduct, all with domestic-abuse enhancers. On Friday, he entered not guilty pleas from his hospital bed in a video court appearance.
The ex-girlfriend, who has three children with Mr. Blake, said she discovered immediately after he left that her car keys and a debit card were missing, and that two $500 withdrawals were made from her account while she waited for police to arrive.
Kamala Harris and Biden have both met with Jacob Blake and heaped praise on him. Neither one of them have met with the woman who says Blake abused her for years and raped her. They haven’t even acknowledged her existence. Me Too is officially dead. It was never real to begin with
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) September 8, 2020
The father has a history of anti-Semitic social media posts & the son had a warrant out for a violent sexual assault and violating a restraining order which led to the 911 emergency call in the first place. https://t.co/xGJrMrjHlu
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) September 8, 2020
A rallying cry of the MeToo movement is “believe all women,” referring to women who accuse men of sexual harassment and assault, prompting The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh to declare Tuesday that “MeToo is officially dead.”
“Kamala Harris and Biden have both met with Jacob Blake and heaped praise on him,” he tweeted. “Neither one of them have met with the woman who says Blake abused her for years and raped her. They haven’t even acknowledged her existence. Me Too is officially dead. It was never real to begin with.”
The Washington Times has reached out to the Biden-Harris campaign for comment.
Jacob Blake Sr., who met with Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris, has posted on Facebook anti-Semitic statements accusing Jews of controlling the media and financial institutions, and called former Clinton White House intern Monica Lewinsky a “hoe.”
Conservative media critic Stephen L. Miller tweeted: “The father has a history of anti-Semitic social media posts & the son had a warrant out for a violent sexual assault and violating a restraining order which led to the 911 emergency call in the first place.”
He added: “There can be an investigation into the shooting without role modeling Jacob Blake.”
The Wisconsin Department of Justice is investigating the shooting, which saw Officer Rusten Sheskey, who is White, fire seven times at Mr. Blake after he leaned into the driver’s side of his vehicle, while the U.S. Justice Department is conducting a civil-rights probe.
The state said that a knife was later found on the driver’s side floor. Mr. Crump has said that Mr. Blake was checking on his children in the back seat.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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