Minutes after Bill Cosby was sentenced to three to 10 years in a state prison for sexually assaulting Andrea Constand, his publicist read a statement to reporters linking Cosby with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, who has been accused of sexual assault by two women.
Ignoring the difference between consensual sex and sexual assault, publicist Andrew Wyatt claimed that both Cosby and Kavanaugh are victims of America’s “sex war.”
“What is going on in Washington today with Judge Kavanaugh is part of that sex war that Judge O’Neill is a part of,” Wyatt said, referring to the judge who presided over Cosby’s case.
Wyatt added: “They persecuted Jesus and look what happened. Not saying Mr. Cosby is Jesus, but we know what this country has done to black men for centuries.”
Wyatt’s decision to explicitly link a convicted predator like Cosby with Kavanaugh will not help Republicans who are still hoping Kavanaugh will be confirmed to the nation’s highest court.
During a speech on the Senate floor on Monday, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) described Kavanaugh as a “mainstream nominee.” Other Republicans have gone as far as to publicly question when Kavanaugh, who was 17 when the alleged assault of Ford occurred, should be disqualified from the Supreme Court for an incident that allegedly took place 36 years ago.
President Trump — himself accused of sexual assault by 15 women — has repeatedly characterized Kavanaugh as a victim, going as far as to suggest on Tuesday that one of his accusers, Deborah Ramirez, has no credibility because she was drinking on the night she was allegedly assaulted. Though Trump tweeted in 2014 that he thought Cosby was “probably guilty,” in recent years he has repeatedly indicated he accepts at face value denials from men accused of sexual assault, particularly when they’re his political allies.
Sixty women have accused Cosby of sexual assault. Many of those accusations detailed that he drugged women before sexually abusing them.
Kavanaugh has so far been publicly accused of assault by two women, but more accusations may still be forthcoming: Attorney Michael Avenatti says he represents a third woman who will soon step forward with an allegation of sexual misconduct involving Kavanaugh. Avenatti claims he has “significant evidence” that Kavanaugh and his friend Mark Judge “would participate in the targeting of women with alcohol/drugs,” though he has not yet produced it.