Kevin Cramer is determinedly doubling down on his series of offensive comments, even as North Dakotans blast his rhetoric on Brett Kavanaugh and sexual assault.
On North Dakota radio this afternoon, Cramer first claimed the accusations were “staged,” then said he stood by his remarks: “If the things that happened happened, y’know, when you were in high school, that’s really bad — I don’t know that it disqualifies you.”
Cramer may want to check in with North Dakotans, who apparently don’t agree with his brazen dismissals of sexual assault allegations.
One irate constituent called into a local TV station to say: “A girl that someone has attempted to rape her or abuse her physically or molest her, never forgets that. A guy can get up and walk away, but the girl will remember it forever. So, Kavanaugh may be guilty. How do we know? I don’t like what Kevin Cramer is talking about.” Watch the full clip here.
But wait, there’s more. Letters to the editor and op-eds criticizing Cramer have dominated press coverage in the past week. Read on below:
The Bismarck Tribune: Cramer too quick to judge
By Patricia Schulz | September 26, 2018
- “I don’t know when I’ve been so upset with an elected official as I am with Rep. Kevin Cramer.”
- “Cramer hasn’t even tried to learn any details about the accusations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Cramer hasn’t asked any questions. Cramer hasn’t even paused long enough to consider that Christine Blasey Ford may be telling the truth.”
- “If that isn’t bad enough, Cramer just implied in a radio interview that a failed sexual assault isn’t a crime, that sexual assault isn’t a crime if you’re drunk, that it isn’t a crime if you’re a teenager, and that a history of sexual assault shouldn’t be used to keep a man out of political office.”
- “If this doesn’t convince North Dakotans that Cramer isn’t qualified to hold elective office – much less that of a U.S. senator – I don’t know what will.”
Read the full letter here.
WDAY: McFeely: With Kevin Cramer, North Dakota has its own Todd Akin
By Mike McFeely | September 25, 2018
- “[Todd] Akin was a Missouri Republican who ran for the U.S. Senate in 2012 and had a good chance to win. That is, until he tried to mansplain his views on why he opposed abortion even in the case of rape.”
- “The voters spoke: Rape is rape. Todd, meet Kevin.”
- “Kevin has spent the past several days saying that even if Kavanaugh did sexually assault the woman who made the first accusation against him, meh, what’s the big deal?”
- “And, in a coup de grace to his empathy to women, Cramer implied that a good girl wouldn’t have been at the party where she says Kavanaugh assaulted her.”
- “Sexual assault in Cramer’s world, apparently, must be done by a sober adult male who penetrates a sober adult female with his penis. If those involved are teenagers or drinking or the assault doesn’t include intercourse, that doesn’t count.”
Read the full article here.
And more: High Plains Reader, Inforum.
Published: Sep 26, 2018