GOP Rep Mocks Kavanaugh Accusations, Jokes That Abraham Lincoln Groped RBG

22:37 GMT, 20 September 2018

South Carolina Republican Rep. Ralph Norman earned himself a timeout session on Thursday after he chose to make an ill-advised joke about sexual assault allegations recently brought up against US Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh by Christine Blasey Ford.

Sputnik

The GOP congressman was attending a debate in Rock Hill, South Carolina, at the Kiwanis Club when he chose to tap into his inner comedian.

"Did y'all hear this latest late-breaking news from the Kavanaugh hearings?" Norman asked the audience, before laying out the punch line. "[US Supreme Court Justice] Ruth Bader Ginsburg came out that she was groped by [former US President] Abraham Lincoln."

While crickets weren't exactly heard, some eventgoers did cackle and offer a slow cap for the politician. Once the video footage was shared across social media platforms, however, all hell broke loose.

— Rachel Vorona Cote (@RVoronaCote) September 20, 2018

South Carolina Democratic Party Chairman Trav Robertson even chimed in on the situation, tweeting, "Ralph Norman just proved he may be rich, but he doesn't have any class."

Robertson was also joined by the likes of Jaime Harrison, the associate chairman of the Democratic National Committee who previously served as The Palmetto State's chairman of the Democratic Party.

The comments from Norman comes as Kavanaugh faces scrutiny over allegations put forth by Ford that date back to the 1980s, when the pair were in high school. On Thursday, it was reported that Ford would be willing to testify to the Senate Judiciary Committee as long as the terms are fair and her safety is guaranteed.

Ford has alleged that when the pair were at a high school party, she was pushed into a bedroom by Kavanaugh and his friend, Mark Judge. Kavanaugh later pinned her down, covered her mouth with his hand and attempted to remove her clothing. Judge looked on as the events unfolded and turned up the music in order to prevent partygoers from hearing Ford's protests.

Both Kavanaugh and Ford have rejected the allegations.