The Brett Kavanaugh Case: The Importance of Language

Lauren Greenwald

On July 9, 2018, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, nominated Brett Kavanaugh to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by Justice Kennedy’s retirement. Trouble erupted on September 16, 2018 when The Washington Post published a story concerning a California psychology professor, Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Kavanaugh of attempting to rape her in the 1980’s. Despite Kavanaugh dismissing the claim, the story quickly became a political skeptical: gaining the attention of both Democrats and Republicans, in addition to the passionate voices of the #MeToo movement. In this paper, I discuss how differing news stations, particularly MSNBC and Fox news, told the story of the Brett Kavanaugh case. By focusing on specific forms of rhetoric, tone, and vocabulary, I hope to shed more light on factors that influenced the 2018 midterm elections and coverage of the Kavanaugh hearings.

Some Background

Kolb suggests that we are living in a “hypermasculine” society shaped in part by Donald Trump’s presidency with his aggressive and misogynistic actions and vocabulary. The #MeToo movement empowered many women to come forward with personal stories of survivorship and sexual abuse. On the heels of #MeToo, the Kavanaugh hearings generated a backlash. Salter suggests that Kavanaugh and his supporters’ rhetoric stemmed from denial. Kavanaugh was convincing and he continuously characterized Ford’s assertions as “part of a ‘coordinated effort’ and ‘conspiracy’ to destroy his reputation and prevent his nomination” (135). With such strong rhetoric it not only caused fear among the mothers of sons and wealthy, white collar men who became worried about how they could eventually end up like Kavanaugh (Kolb, 187, 2019), a man, who they believed, was a victim of being falsely accused of a crime he did not commit (187), but it also influenced political news stations. It became politically motivated as Fox News created a story of a man who got caught in a trap by the Democrats and MSNBC continued to state claims in which the Republicans were immoral and heartless for backing up a man who they so clearly believed to have committed the crime. Conservative media said that Ford was suffering from “false memories” of rape, and/or was mistaking her actual perpetrator for Kavanaugh (Salter, 135, 2019).

 

Methods

In order to gather the necessary coverage needed by MSNBC and Fox news, I used Nexis Uni, which gave me access to thousands of news transcripts which I then narrowed down to news programs that specifically pertained to Brett Kavanaugh, Ford, and the overall situation surrounding the hearings. I examined data collected between September 16 and October 6, 2018, that is, the day The Washington Post’s article was published until the final decision, on October 6th, when Kavanaugh was confirmed by the Senate with a 50-48 vote.

The original format of my research design was to gather, study, and break down two shows from each day from both news station.  For example, on September 16, I examined the tone, rhetoric, and vocabulary of Life, Liberty, Levine in addition to Fox News Sunday, both of which are broadcasted on Fox News. However, complications arose when I began to conclude that MSNBC failed to air any reports, or only presented very minimal findings, concerning the Kavanaugh case on certain dates. For example, the station briefly mentioned the topic on one September 17th program, Hardball with Chris Mathews, the day after the Washington Post was published, in addition to no results on October 6th, the day he was confirmed into the senate. Regardless, I still gathered the stories and arguments mentioned by Fox News on those specific dates as I felt as if was still important to gather information on what was happening and being talked about. Conclusively,  I analyzed 71 transcripts, providing an overview of the rhetoric and perspectives encompassed by each station. Once reading through each one,  I decided to take a closer look by first searching for particular words such as, “allegation”, “sexual”, “assault”, and “misconduct.”

 Abandoning the Word “Sexual”

There is a great dissimilarity between an “allegation” and an “assault.” In addition to this, the word “sexual” in front of  “allegation” conveys a meaning different than if “sexual” is absent. The term “allegation” was used fairly equally across both news stations, with  Fox mentioning “allegation” 175 times and MSNBC 170 times. When it came to the word “sexual” however, there are some notable differences. Fox News used the word “sexual” 240 times, compared to MSNBC which used the word 264 times.

Looking next to the term “assault,” Fox News used the word “assault” 53 times compared to MSNBC which used it 140 times–a notable difference. The presence or absence of the term “assault” from programmatic coverage of the Kavanaugh hearings may convey something about the tone, or perspective, offered in each program. For example,  on September 25, 2018, Blumenthal said on Hardball with Chris Mathews, “That is what I hope my Republican colleagues will understand. And if they do vote, the message is clear: Serious, credible allegations from a sexual assault survivor matter less than putting extremist ideologues on the federal bench. (author’s emphasis) “ Meanwhile, on Fox News Special Report with Bret Baier, on September 27, 2018, Chis Wallace, a Fox News Host said on the show, “We had this explosion of emotion from Judge Kavanaugh and very much acting like — acting, behaving like a man who has been unjustly accused, and outraged by the way he’s been treated by these allegations of sexual misconduct” (author’s emphasis). Ultimately, these quotes back up the notion that two, divergent narratives were being recounted: a theory that also correlates with the statistics.

Figure 1: Frequency of Framing Words on Fox News and MSNBC

 

What Should We Call Her? – Accuser or Ford

The difference I then proceeded to look at was the numerical difference between the use of Kavanaugh’s name, in comparison to the statistical data of how many times each news station said Ford’s name. If one chooses to take a glance a Figure 2, you would be able to see that the results are drastically different. Fox News said Ford’s name 556 times, but mentioned Kavanaugh’s name 1556 times. Contrastingly, MSNBC said Ford’s name 646 times while they mentioned Kavanaugh’s name 1639 times. One reason that Ford was mentioned less frequently is that her identity was not released initially, and therefore news reports referred to her as “a woman,” or “the accuser.” In Figure 2, it is depicted that Fox News used the word accuser 162 times, with MSNBC using it 116 times.

 

Figure 2: Mentions of Kavanaugh vs. Ford on Fox News versus MSNBC

Table 3. Use of “Accuser” on Fox News versus MSNBC

 

While MSNBC started to use Ford’s name fairly quickly, both stations needed to be careful as certain viewers may make the assumption that by not using her name, they are disrespecting Dr. Blasey Ford. For it is the hope that people of all political preferences are watching numerous news stations. This, in theory, makes people more aware of what is truly being spoken about on all sides. However, by not mentioning Ford’s name, each station is dehumanizing her, taking away her bravery and credibility as they begin to define her as more of a “being” rather than a “person”.  Fox News did an interview with Doris Kearns who stated, “We have to make them feel we’re working together for the country. We’re in different parties, but we don’t have to hate each other, which they seem to do in these last decades”. This is such an important statement as it is not negative nor demeaning. Thus, a woman or man of any political party who has the courage to stand in front the Supreme Court and testify against a current nominee for sexual assault, deserves to be acknowledged: whether you agree with their political preferences or not.

 

Beyond Vocabulary

Lastly, besides the use of vocabulary, which then influenced the tone, a huge detail I noticed was the use of pictures and videos edited into each broadcast. While the bulk of my research was done through reading the transcripts, I also went on YouTube to watch a couple news clips from each station. MSNBC would show pictures that portrayed Ford as a woman who was nervous, but patient, determined, and proud. She became the ultimate picture of a strong woman who demanded to be heard despite the battles being thrown at her.  Chris Hayes, from MSNBC said, “I mean, she’s the hero and she’s the one who spoke truth to power that I think inspired many…” Contrastingly, Fox News portrayed her completely different as they used pictures that displayed an incredibly emotional Brett Kavanaugh. They were able to portray a man who may have once seemed to have everything at his fingertips, to one who has been embarrassed and humiliated in front of not only the nation, but as well as family.

 

Discussion: What Lies Ahead

Being passionate about something can be both a gift and a curse: especially when pertaining to politics. It can be a blessing in that one can make movements such as #MeToo and make it a powerful, force to be reckoned with. One can change the lives of many with simply being determined, passionate, and taking advantage of one’s freedom of speech. However, with great energy and zealousness, ignorance may also follow. Becoming blind to the realities in front of us, due to our own ideologies, is quite possibly a threat to democracy. The dangers of this can be seen within the vocabulary used both in MSNBC and Fox News because while yes, they talked about the case, they also blamed each other for many aspects of the accusations. Fox News would make claims against the democrats in which they were just planting another “witch hunt” in order to get back at Trump. While MSNBC was consistently questioning the character the Republican party as a whole. The consequences of this type of rhetoric is what needs to be discussed.  When did we get here and what can we do to improve? The rhetoric used in the Kavanaugh case is simply a warning. A sign that there is room to grow and that our democracy is in need of great improvement as our attitudes towards each other are not up to par.

 

Conclusion

After analyzing all of my research, I have concluded that both sides are definitely strong willed when it comes to their opinions. In fact, there are very few, from each party, that are willing to compromise their views for the benefit of the whole. To answer my research question, how do different news stations, such as MSNBC and Fox News, portray the Kavanaugh case,  the answer is simply enormously different. For the most part, that was my prediction, but I was not expecting to find the dissimilarities within the most subtle of ways. True, the tone of voice may be negative and/or pessimistic, but the real variations lie within the little things: the stuff that people may not originally think of. It rests within the power of vocabulary, inadvertently telling the listener what to think. They play off of the old saying, “a picture is worth a thousand words” as they invoke emotion through the look of strength upon a woman who has been hurting versus the vulnerability of a man who has been humiliated. In truth, I have definitely gained a better understanding of both sides, but I am disappointed in the fact that it seems as though no sense of peace, at least in this case, is likely to happen anytime soon.

 

References

Kolb, Deborah M. 2019. “Her place at the table: Gender and negotiation after Trump.” Negotiation Journal 35, no. 1: 185-189.

 

MSBC Shows

Al Sharpton, Danny Cevallos, Aaron Blake, Yamiche Alcindor. “POLITICS NATION with AL SHARPTON for September 30, 2018”. MSNBC. September 30, 2018 Sunday.

Al Sharpton, Jonathan Allen; Julia Manchester; Mark Thompson. “POLITICS NATION with AL SHARPTON, For September 16, 2018”. MSNBC. September 16, 2018 Sunday.

Ali Velshi, Julia Ainsley, Jennifer Rubin, Tim O`Brien, Josh Barro. “THE LAST WORD WITH LAWRENCE O`DONNELL for October 3, 2018”. MSNBC. October 3, 2018 Wednesday.

Ari Melber; Chris Matthews; Kasie Hunt, Michael Steele, Jonathan Allen. “HARDBALL WITH CHRIS MATTHEWS; September 17, 2018”. MSNBC. September 17, 2018 Monday.

Ari Melber, Kate Snow. “THE BEAT WITH ARI MELBER for October 1, 2018”. MSNBC. October 1, 2018 Monday

Brian Williams, Garrett Haake, Robert Costa. “The 11th Hour With Brian Williams for October 4, 2018”. MSNBC. October 4, 2018 Thursday.

Brian Williams, Garrett Haake, Mara Gay, John Gerstein, Jonathan Allen, Joyce Vance. “The 11th Hour With Brian Williams for October 5, 2018”. MSNBC. October 5, 2018 Friday.

Brian Williams, Maya Wiley, Ashley Parker, Philip Rucker, Chuck Rosenberg, Matthew Miller. “The 11th Hour With Brian Williams for September 18, 2018”. MSNBC. September 18, 2018 Tuesday.

Brian Williams, Robert Costa, Steve Schmidt, Joyce Vance, Eugene Robinson. “The 11th Hour With Brian Williams for September 27, 2018”. MSNBC. September 27, 2018 Thursday.

Chris Hayes. “ALL IN for September 28, 2018”. MSNBC. September 28, 2018 Friday.

Chris Hayes, Daniel Goldman, Chris Matthews. “ALL IN for October 3, 2018”. MSNBC. October 3, 2018 Wednesday.

Chris Hayes, Heidi Przybyla, Mimi Rocah, Joyce Vance. “ALL IN with CHRIS HAYES for September 26, 2018”. MSNBC. September 26, 2018 Wednesday.

Chris Matthews, Eugene Robinson, Cynthia Alksne, Chuck Rosenberg, Ruth Marcus. “HARDBALL WITH CHRIS MATTHEWS for October 2, 2018”. MSNBC. October 2, 2018 Tuesday.

Chris Matthews, Malcolm Nance, Howard Fineman. “HARDBALL WITH CHRIS MATTHEWS for September 20, 2018”. MSNBC. September 20, 2018 Thursday.

Chris Matthews, Robert Costa, Heidi Przybyla, Eugene Robinson, David Corn, Beth Fouhy, Julia Ainsley. “HARDBALL WITH CHRIS MATTHEWS for September 24, 2018”. MSNBC. September 24, 2018 Monday.

Chris Matthews; Susan Page; Michael Steele; Zerlina Maxwell, Ashley Pratte. “HARDBALL WITH CHRIS MATTHEWS; September 25, 2018”. MSNBC. September 25, 2018 Tuesday.

Chuck Todd, Heidi Przybyla. “MTP DAILY October 4, 2018”. MSNBC. October 4, 2018 Thursday.

Chuck Todd, Mimi Rocah. “MTP DAILY September 20, 2018”. MSNBC. September 20, 2018 Thursday

Chuck Todd. “MTP DAILY with CHUCK TODD for September 18, 2018”. MSNBC. September 18, 2018 Tuesday.

Chuck Todd, Ruth Marcus. “MTP DAILY September 25, 2018”. MSNBC. September 25, 2018 Tuesday.

Darren Sands; Christine Emba; Alexi McCammond; Errin Haines Whack. “”PoliticsNation” with Reverend Al Sharpton; September 23, 2018″. MSNBC. September 23, 2018 Sunday.

Kasie Hubnt. “Kasie DC Interview with Attorney Michael Avenatti”. MSNBC. September 30, 2018 Sunday.

Katy Tur, Gordon Chang, Gabriel Debenedetti. “MTP DAILY September 19, 2018”. MSNBC. September 19, 2018 Wednesday.

Katy Tur; Ari Melber, Mara Gay, Lawrence O`Donnell, Kasie Hunt. “THE BEAT WITH ARI MELBER; September 28, 2018”. MSNBC. September 28, 2018 Friday.

Lawrence O`Donnell. “THE LAST WORD WITH LAWRENCE O`DONNELL for September 17, 2018”. MSNBC. September 17, 2018 Monday

Lawrence O`Donnell. “THE LAST WORD WITH LAWRENCE O`DONNELL; September 21, 2018”. MSNBC. September 21, 2018 Friday.

Lawrence O`Donnell, Jill Wine-Banks, John Heilemann. “THE LAST WORD WITH LAWRENCE O`DONNELL for September 24, 2018”. MSNBC. September 24, 2018 Monday.

Lawrence O`Donnell; Brian Williams. “THE LAST WORD WITH LAWRENCE O`DONNELL; October 01, 2018”. MSNBC. October 1, 2018 Monday.

Lawrence O`Donnell, Jill Wine-Banks. “THE LAST WORD WITH LAWRENCE O`DONNELL for October 2, 2018”. MSNBC. October 2, 2018 Tuesday.

Lawrence O`Donnell. “THE LAST WORD WITH LAWRENCE O`DONNELL; October 05, 2018”. MSNBC. October 5, 2018 Friday

Rachel Maddow, Chuck Rosenberg. “THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW for September 21, 2018”. MSNBC. September 21, 2018 Friday.

Rachel Maddow, Leigh Ann Caldwell. “THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW for September 26, 2018”. MSNBC. September 26, 2018 Wednesday.

Rachel Maddow. “THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW for September 27, 2018”. MSNBC. September 27, 2018 Thursday.

Stephanie Ruhle, Maya Wiley. “THE BEAT WITH ARI MELBER for September 19, 2018”. MSNBC. September 19, 2018 Wednesday.

Fox News Shows

Bret Baier, Martha MacCallum, Chris Wallace, Peter Doocy, Shannon Bream. “Senate Judiciary Committee Hears Testimony from Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh and His Accuser Christine Blasey Ford.”. Fox News Network. September 27, 2018 Thursday.

Chris Wallace, Bret Baier, Deirdre Bolton, Mike Emanuel, John Roberts, Gillian Turner, Matt Finn; Casey Stegall, Peter Doocy. “Supreme Court Battle; Confirmation Countdown; Civil Disobedience; Chicago Police Officer Convicted of Second-Degree Murder; Fight for Life Support; Blackburn vs. Bredesen; New Low Due to Job High; The Possible Effect of Gun Control Issue on Midterm Elections Examined; Senate Votes to End Debate on Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court Nomination”. Fox News Network. October 5, 2018 Friday.

Chris Wallace, Brit Hume, Kevin Corke. “Interview with Sarah Huckabee Sanders; Kavanaugh Allegations from Ford; Me Too Movement Impact; Power Player of the Week Denzel Washington”. Fox News Network. September 30, 2018 Sunday

Dana Perino, Jesse Watters, Greg Gutfeld, Marie Harf, Morgan Ortagus. “Confirmation Controversy Heats Up, Judiciary Committee Hopes To Have An Answer By End Of Day If Kavanaugh Accuser Will Testify; Destroy And Delay, Trump Slams Democrats Over Kavanaugh Hearing; Reports Says Rod Rosenstein Proposed Secretly Recording Trump Invoking 25th Amendment To Remove Trump From Office; Rosenstein Denies That He Proposed Secretly Taping Trump, Calls “New York Times” Report Technically Incorrect; Michael Moore Threatens to Move to Canada; Father Coaches Son to Steal Toys from Machine”. Fox News Network. September 21, 2018 Friday.

Greg Gutfeld, Jesse Watters, Juan Williams, Dana Perino, Nicole Saphier. “Partisan Battle over Brett Kavanaugh Accuser; Kavanaugh’s Accuser Calls for FBI Investigation Before She Attends any Congressional Hearing; Kavanaugh Denies Allegation of Sexual Misconduct in High School; Keith Ellison Domestic Violence Accuser Claims Democratic Party Doesn’t Believe Her Story; Hillary’s Hysterics; Hillary Clinton Rails Against Trump, Again; Hillary Says Uncontrollable Trump Will Wholesale Fire People after the Midterm Elections; Clinton Pens Essay Blasting Trump for Assaults on Democracy; Maroon 5 to Play Super Bowl Halftime Show; Restaurant to Get Lobsters High Before Cooking Them; Lawnmower Parents Mow Obstacles Down for Children; Millennials Not Mailing in Absentee Ballots; Overuse of Phones Makes Dogs Sad; Dr. Saphier Answers Medical Questions”. Fox News Network. September 19, 2018 Wednesday.

Greg Gutfeld, Jesse Watters, Dana Perino, Juan Williams, Tucker Carlson. “Anti-Kavanaugh Media Bias; “New York Times” Report Says Kavanaugh Threw Ice at Someone During a Bar Fight in Yale; Kavanaugh Accuser, Julie Swetnick, Account Raises New Questions; Brett Kavanaugh Confirmation Battle; President Trump Taunts Potential 2020 Election Rival During Rally; Midterms Battle; Hillary Clinton Bashes Kavanaugh and Trump; Hillary Clinton Attacks Trump Supporters; Anti-Kavanaugh Protests Increase; Tucker’s New Book Looks at Political Elites”. Fox News Network. October 2, 2018 Tuesday.

Greg Gutfeld, Marianne Rafferty. “President Trump Talks About the Economy, Midterms and Kavanaugh Confirmation During A Rally In Kansas; Judge Brett Kavanaugh is now an Associate Justice on the nation’s highest court; Protesters Rally Against Kavanaugh”. Fox News Network. October 6, 2018 Saturday

Howard Kurtz, Susan Ferrechio, Marie Harf, Brit Hume. “Kavanaugh Debate Turns Raw, Ugly; New Yorker Hit Over Kavanaugh; Kellyanne a Sexual Assault Victim; Media Attacks on Kavanaugh”. Fox News Network. September 30, 2018 Sunday.

Jeanine Pirro, Marianne Rafferty. “President Trump Stands Strong Amid The Kavanaugh Controversy With A Rousing Rally In West Virginia, What’s Next In The FISA Warrant Investigation; The Securities And Exchange Commission Fining Tesla And Its CEO Elon Musk $20 Million Each; Senator Elizabeth Warren Hinting At A Presidential Run In 2020”. Fox News Network. September 29, 2018 Saturday.

Jesse Watters, Greg Gutfeld, Geraldo Rivera, Jedediah Bila, Katie Pavlich, John Roberts, Ed Henry. “White House Orders Kavanaugh FBI Investigation; President Trump Ordered FBI To Conduct A Supplemental Investigation To Update Judge Kavanaugh’s File; Ford’s Attorney Respond To FBI Investigation, No Artificial Limits As To Time Or Scope; Trump Orders FBI to Conduct Supplemental Investigation Into Kavanaugh; Left Lashes Out Against Kavanaugh”. Fox News Network. September 28, 2018 Friday

Jesse Watters, Juan Williams, Dana Perino, Greg Gutfeld, Nicole Saphier. “Senate Showdown: Kavanaugh and Accuser Invited to Testify Monday; Democratic and Republican Senators Spar Over Kavanaugh Confirmation Hearing; Woman Accused Kavanaugh of Sexual Assault Decades Ago in High School; President Trump Orders Declassification of Several Key FISA Documents Related to Russia Investigation; Media’s Negative Trump Coverage, Study Shows Evening Newscasts Overwhelmingly Describe Trump with Negative Language; Jokes Turned Political at Emmy Awards; Study Identified Four Personality Types”. Fox News Network. September 18, 2018 Tuesday

Laura Ingraham, Dave Bossie, Jonathan Turley, Raymond Arroyo, Jason Chaffetz. “The Senate Will Get One Copy of the Finished FBI Report and Democrats Are Up to Their Smear Campaign of Brett Kavanaugh Which Has the GOP Base United; Professor Ford’s Testimony is Falling Apart; Attorney Specializing in Defamation Examines Accusations against Judge Brett Kavanaugh; President Trump Makes Controversial Statements about Brett Kavanaugh Accuser, Christine Blasey Ford; Body Language Expert Analyses Christine Blasey Ford’s Testimony; Democratic Staffer Releases Personal Information of Republican Senators”. Fox News Network. October 3, 2018 Wednesday

Laura Ingraham, Ed Henry. “Democrats pressure and emotional extortion on Brett Kavanaugh; Second Kavanaugh accuser emerges against Brett Kavanaugh while White House stands behind him in support; Kavanaugh denies all allegations being hurled at him and will stand firm and fight this smear campaign in him; Rod Rosenstein Meets with President Trump and Remains Deputy Attorney General”. Fox News Network. September 24, 2018 Monday

Laura Ingraham, Howard Kurtz, Matt Schlapp, Gillian Turner. “Democrats Protesting and Wanting to Salvage Operation after the FBI Report was Reviewed by Senate and Cleared Kavanaugh of Any Sexual Abuse Accusations; Democrats Style of Intimidation and Harassment Towards Senators on Not to Vote to Confirm Brett Kavanaugh; White House is Supporting and Standing by the FBI Report on Brett Kavanaugh; Ingraham Angle Investigations on How the Reporters Got Hold of Dr. Ford’s Account; FBI Submits Completed Investigation into Allegations against Supreme Court Nominee to White House; Interview with Senator Lindsey Graham; Senate May Propose Cloture for Senate Vote on Kavanaugh Nomination”. Fox News Network. October 4, 2018 Thursday.

Laura Ingraham, Matt Schlapp, Dave Bossie. “Trump Fights Back and Accuses Democrats of Playing a Con Game on the Delays with Brett Kavanaugh’s Confirmation Hearing; President Trump Defends His Supreme Court Nominee, Supporting and Says that the Second Accuser Has Nothing on Kavanaugh; Massive Anti-Kavanaugh Protest Funded by Liberal Activist Groups Connected to George Soros; Controversy over Allegations against Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh Examined; Pollster Reviews Possible Results of Brett Kavanaugh Controversy for Midterm Election; Interview with Congressman Jim Jordan; Congressman Jim Jordan Calls for Rod Rosenstein to Appear Before Congress”. Fox News Network. September 25, 2018 Tuesday

Laura Ingraham, Monica Crowley Jason Chaffetz, Raymond Arroyo. “Media Rush Judgment on Brett Kavanaugh; The Accuser of Brett Kavanaugh Wants an FBI Investigation Prior to Testifying to the Senate Judiciary Committee; President Trump to Declassify Documents Related to Russia Investigation; Emmy Awards Show Reviewed”. Fox News Network. September 18, 2018 Tuesday

Laura Ingraham, Newt Gingrich. “The Kavanaugh-Ford Hearings: A Case of Emotion Versus Fact; Kavanaugh Clashes with Democrats During Fiery Senate Hearing; Kavanaugh Tears into Senate Judiciary Committee for “Circus” of Allegation Process; Senators Obsess Over Kavanaugh Yearbook; Kellyanne Conway on the Kavanaugh Hearing; Senator Dianne Feinstein Asked about Leak of Christine Blasey Ford’s Name to Media During Judiciary Committee Hearing; Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s Testimony in Judiciary Committee Hearing Examined; Friend of Brett Kavanaugh Vouches for His Character”. Fox News Network. September 27, 2018 Thursday.

Laura Ingraham, Raymond Arroyo, Matt Schlapp. “Democrats Attempt To Obstruct And Resist The Kavanaugh Nomination; Kavanaugh Accuser Calls For FBI Investigation Before Testifying; Poll Reveals Complacency Among GOP Voters Ahead Of Midterm Elections; One-On-One With Secretary Of State Mike Pompeo; Interview with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo; Writers Argue over Sexual Orientation of Bert and Ernie; Video Released of State Department Employee Discussing Resistant to Trump Administration”. Fox News Network. September 19, 2018 Wednesday.

Laura Ingraham, Michelle Malkin, Raymond Arroyo. “The Democrats And Their Abandonment Of The Principle Of Due Process, Innocent Until Proven Guilty And Facts And The Use Of Emotional Extortion To Stop The Confirmation Of Brett Kavanaugh; Activist Involved In Every Anti-Kavanaugh Campaign Is Funded By A Soros-Backed Organization; Laura Ingraham Talks With Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell On Kavanaugh’s Confirmation, Murkowski Voting No, Susan Collins Voting Yes And The Assault On The Senate By Anti-Kavanaugh Supporters; Senate Preparing For Vote On Supreme Court Nomination Of Brett Kavanaugh; Protestors Demonstrating In Front Of Mitch McConnell’s Residence; ACLU Releases Ad Critical of Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh; Interview with Diamond and Silk”. Fox News Network. October 5, 2018 Friday

Laura Ingraham, Monica Crowley. “Rachel Mitchell Reports on Christine Blasey Ford’s Credibility and on Inconsistencies in Her Testimony and How It Lacks Evidence; Political Debates are Heating Up on the Kavanaugh’s Nominations; The Ex-Boyfriend of Julie Swetnick, One of Brett Kavanaugh’s Accusers, Speaks Out Against Her; Yearbooks from Christine Blasey Ford’s High School Assessed; Criticism of Kanye West’s Support for President Trump Examined; Psychologist Discusses Phenomenon of False Memories”. Fox News Network. October 1, 2018 Monday

Laura Ingraham, Shannon Bream, Ed Henry, Chad Pergram, Kristin Fisher, Mike Emanuel, Peter Doocy, Juan Williams, Robert Jeffress, Trace Gallagher, William La Jeunesse. “McConnell Says Kavanaugh Nomination Is Going Forward; Flake, Democrats Compromise To Move Nomination Forward; Trump: Just Opened 7th Investigating On Kavanaugh; FBI Background Probe Would Put Off Floor Vote A Week; Kavanaugh Hearing Highlights Partisan Divides; What Does The Deepening Party Divide Mean For Midterms?; How Blacks And Latinos Are Viewing Kavanaugh; Most Evangelicals Back Kavanaugh If Claims True; “View As” Feature Used To Steal $50M Users’ Information; Zuckerberg In Damage Control After 2nd Major Breach; Governor Brown Worked About Unintended Consequences”. Fox News Network. September 28, 2018 Friday

Lou Dobbs, Mike Emanuel, Ed Rollins. “Brett Kavanaugh Accuser Offers To Testify To Senate; Kim Jong-un Liked His Trump Summit So Much, He’s Calling For Another One; Brett Kavanaugh Accuser Negotiating with Senate Over Her Testimony; FBI and DOJ Defy President Donald Trump, Expected to Release Redacted FISA Documents; Kavanaugh Will Appear Before Senate Judiciary Committee On Monday”. Lou Dobbs Tonight. September 20, 2018 Thursday.

Martha MacCallum, Ben Shapiro, Karl Rove, Chris Stirewalt, Trace Gallagher, Jesse Watters. “Protesters Target Senators Over Kavanaugh; Ben Shapiro On Kavanaugh Hysteria; Assault Survivor And Kavanaugh Supporter: We Are All Innocent Until Proven Guilty; WH: NYT Report Is Totally False Attack; Fox Polls Show GOP Enthusiasm; U.S. Capitol Police Arrested Jackson Cosko For Doxing; Capitol Police Said Someone From The House of Representatives Editing The Wikipedia Page Of GOP Senators Mike Lee, Orrin Hatch And Lindsey Graham, Adding The Senators’ Home Address And Phone Numbers; Statistics Show The False Reporting Of Sexual Assault Is Low But False Accusations Can Ruin Lives; President Trump Sent Text Messages To More Than 225 Million Smartphones, Testing The New Alert System; Theresa May Made Fun Of After Dancing In South Africa”. Fox News Network. October 3, 2018 Wednesday.

Martha MacCallum, Ed Henry, Brit Hume, Trace Gallagher, Guy Benson, Jack Keane, Tucker Carlson, Pete Hegseth, Kat Timpf, Tom Shillue. “FBI Report Could Be Finished Tomorrow; McConnell Says Vote Will Be This Week; McConnell Slams NYT Over Kavanaugh Bar Fight Story; Suspected Ricin Letter Sent To Pres. Trump; Impact On Kavanaugh Vote On Midterms; Confrontation Between U.S./Chinese Warships; General Jack Keane Says China Is Working Hard To Overpower The United States Militarily And Economically, And That The Chinese Government Is Also Spreading Its Tentacles All Over The World; Hillary Clinton Back On The Public View Again Calling The People Who Supported Trump As Deplorables; Students From College Of The Ozarks Say The Kavanaugh Thing Gives Them A Lesson That What You Do Today Could Impact Your Future Or Career; In The Era Of The Me Too Movement, Actress Molly Ringwald Is Changing Her Perspective On Some Of The Scenes In Her Classic Movie Hits During The `80s Like The “Breakfast Club” And “16 Candles”. Fox News Network. October 2, 2018 Tuesday.

Mike Emanuel, Kristin Fisher, Richard Fowler, Jason Chaffetz, Garrett Tenney, Hillary Vaughn, William La Jeunesse. “Kavanaugh Nomination Crisis; Deputy A.G. Denies Unverified Claims In “New York Times;” Republicans Slam Democrats For Political Posturing; The Brett Kavanaugh Case Shows We Still Blame Women for the Sins of Men; Google Discussed Ways To Counter Travel Ban; Kavanaugh, Blasey Ford Under Intense Scrutiny; Sacramento Bee: Black Lives Matter Counterprotest Encouraged By Sheriff; New California Law Requires Customers To Request Straws”. Fox News Network. September 21, 2018 Friday.

Paul Gigot, Mary Anastasia O’Grady, Dan Henninger, Kim Strassel, James Freeman. “Judge Kavanaugh’s Accuser to Testify in Open Hearings Thursday; Democrats Call for FBI to Investigate Sexual Assault Allegations Against Kavanaugh; Key Senate Races Tighten as Kavanaugh Confirmation Hangs in the Balance.”. Fox News Network. September 23, 2018 Sunday.

Shannon Bream, Ed Henry, Mollie Hemingway, Rich Edson, Jonathan Serrie, Trace Gallagher, Kristin Fisher, Jonathan Hunt. “Unverified Allegations Pouring In Against Supreme Court Nominee; Kavanaugh Withdraws From Harvard Law Teaching Job; McConnell Blasts Dems For Moving Goalpost; Top Judiciary Denies Leaking Ford Letter; Minnesota Senate Candidate Calls On State To Investigate Keith Ellison Domestic Abuse Allegations; Trump Calls For Comprehensive But Quick FBI Probe; Partisan Lawmakers Vow To Take Probes Beyond Midterms; California Law Will Force Women Board Directors On Companies; A Day Of Memorial Events On Las Vegas”. Fox News Network. October 1, 2018 Monday

Shannon Bream, Leland Vittert, Alicia Acuna, Gillian Turner, Chad Pergram, Trace Gallagher, Chris Stirewalt. “Amid Protests, Senators Weigh FBI Reports In Their Vote; Kavanaugh’s Last-Ditch Pitch; Amy Schumer And Emily Ratajkowski Were Arrested In Kavanaugh Protests; Trump Admin Unveils Departure From Obama-Policies”. Fox News Network. October 4, 2018 Thursday.

Sean Hannity, Jeanine Pirro, Gregg Jarrett, Sara Carter, Kristin Fisher. “Trump’s Vegas Rally Moments Away; Democrats’ Shameless Obstruction Tactics; The Accuser of Judge Brett Kavanaugh Now Again Says that She Will Testify on the Senate Committee but She Wants Judge Kavanaugh to Go First, Which Critics Say Kind of Odd; New Details from FBI Officials Text Messages Shows the Political Bias at the Very Highest Levels of the Justice Department”. Fox News Network. September 20, 2018 Thursday.

Sean Hannity, Tammy Bruce, Sara Carter, Kristin Fisher, Mark Levin, Ed Henry. “Democrats’ Shameless Obstruction Tactics; Michael Avenatti Pushing New Allegations; Judge Kavanaugh And Professor Ford Set To Testify In High- Stakes Senate Hearing Tomorrow; As Voting Of Lawmakers For Judge Kavanaugh Gets Nearer, Democrats Are Doing Their Last-Minute Tactic To Bring More Damning Controversy To The Supreme Court Nominee; A Man From Rhode Island Said That Two Men Named Brett and Mark Raped A Woman In A Boat Back In The `80s, But Fox Has Found Out That It’s Just A Fraud, A Made-Up Story; Critics Say Women Who Accused Judge Kavanaugh Of All Sorts Don’t Have The Evidence That Would Corroborate Their Allegations”. Fox News Network. September 26, 2018 Wednesday

Tucker Carlson. “Attorney Michael Avenatti’s client Julie Swetnick alleges that about 35 years ago, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh was part of a group of teenage boys in the Washington DC area and committed a series of gang rapes; Arizona’s sex crimes prosecutor Rachel Mitchell to question Christine Ford at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing; More than 60 of Brett Kavanaugh’s childhood friends have now signed a statement defending him as a man, defending his character. Aired 8-9p ET”. Fox News Network. September 26, 2018 Wednesday.

Tucker Carlson, Martha MacCallum, Ed Henry. “Brett Kavanaugh, in His Interview with Martha MacCallum, Pushed Back Pretty Aggressively Against Attacks on His Personal Integrity and Decency, and Denied Completely All of the Sexual Allegations Against Him; Last week, Senate Republicans Declared in Effect that All Allegations Against Brett Kavanaugh Must be Heard No Matter How Frivolous or Obviously Fraudulent They Are; Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is Going to Meet with President Trump on 09/27/18; A New Study from Three Yale Researchers on Illegal Immigrant Population in the United States Concluded that It’s at Least 22 Million; Tucker Carlson’s New Book, “Ship of Fools,” Comes Out on 10/01/18″. Fox News Network. September 24, 2018 MondayBottom of Form

Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity. “California Psychology Professor Christine Blasey Ford’s sexual assault claim against Judge Brett Kavanaugh has stopped his Supreme Court nomination; A number of Senate Republicans are said to be undecided about Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s guilt or innocence and say they’d like to hear more from Christine Blasey Ford on Thursday when she’s scheduled to testify in the Senate; Democrats are demanding that Kavanaugh call down yet another FBI investigation on himself; Google already told Tucker Carlson Tonight show that it won’t punish any of the employees who planned to subvert Google’s search; During President Trump’s speech at the United Nations in New York, he condemned the socialist and corrupt government of Venezuela; Tucker Carlson’s new book is called Ship of Fools”. Fox News Network. September 25, 2018 Tuesday 

 

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2018 Political Year of the Woman Election: A Critical Examination Copyright © 2019 by Lauren Greenwald is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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