GOP strategist Liz Copeland said Tuesday that Republican women will support Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, despite the numerous sexual misconduct allegations against him.
“Everyone is talking about Republican women, and prior to the hearing there was a dip in support of Kavanaugh down to 58 percent, but after the hearing it went up to 70 percent,” Copeland, a former Democrat who’s now president of Urban Conservative Project, told Hill.TV’s Krystal Ball and guest host Ned Ryun on “Rising.”
“After the Access Hollywood tape, Republican women still supported Donald Trump,” she said, referring to the 2005 tape in which Trump brags about groping and kissing women without their consent.
“Even after Roy Moore was accused of those heinous crimes, they still supported him,” she added, in reference to the Republican nominee in last year’s Alabama Senate race who had been accused by several women of sexual misconduct from decades ago. Moore consistently denied the accusations.
“I don’t think we’re going to see a drop in support for Republican men or women,” Copeland said.
The GOP strategist predicted that the three undecided Senate Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Jeff Flake (Ariz.) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) — will end up voting for Kavanaugh after the FBI finishes its investigation into allegations of sexual assault against the nominee.
“After this investigation is concluded, they’re going to have a vote on the floor…and Collins and Murkowski, I think they’re going to cast that vote,” Copeland said. “I think Flake is going to cast that vote. He cast the vote to get him out of the committee.”
Kavanaugh has denied the accusations against him. He testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday to offer a rebuttal to the testimony provided earlier that day by Christine Blasey Ford, who alleged that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a party in 1982 when they were both in high school.
A CBS News survey conducted Sept. 28-30, after Thursday’s hearing, found that 41 percent of men said they think Kavanaugh should be confirmed, compared with 29 percent of women said the same. Seventy percent of Republican women said they thought that Kavanaugh should be confirmed.
— Julia Manchester
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