Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., told MSNBC host Rachel Maddow that she walked out of President Donald Trump's State of the Union address after hearing him praise Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
The Michigan legislator told Maddow that "even the mention of Brett Kavanaugh for me is a trigger — just as a woman in America."
"The fact that he rightfully was accused and having an incredibly strong woman come before the public and the world and tell her story of sexual assault by this person that was appointed to the Supreme Court is just alone — I couldn't stand still and not do anything about it," she continued Wednesday. "And I needed to walk away from that."
During his speech, Trump bragged that he had "confirmed a record number of 187 new federal judges to uphold our Constitution as written," including "two brilliant new Supreme Court justices, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh." Though Trump has already reshaped the federal judiciary with his nominees, the president nonetheless bragged that "we have many in the pipeline."
During his Senate confirmation hearings for the Supreme Court, Kavanaugh was accused of sexual misconduct by Christine Blasey Ford while he was in high school and sexual assault by Deborah Ramirez when he was in college. Kavanaugh also faced an accusation from a third woman, Julie Swetnick, who signed an affidavit alleging that she was the victim of a gang rape at a party in which he was present. However, nly Ford was invited to testify publicly before the Senate.
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