CNN Shamelessly Tried To Grill Sen. Collins For Not Believing Kavanaugh Assaulted Ford

“I do not believe that Brett Kavanaugh was her assailant,” Collins told CNN’s Dana Bash in an interview that aired Sunday, speaking about Christine Blasey Ford. “I do believe that she was assaulted. I don’t know by whom and I’m not certain when but I do not believe he was the assailant.”

Bash pressed Collins on the matter, noting the senator’s critics would point out that she gave more credit to Kavanaugh’s testimony that he was innocent rather than believing Ford’s account. In response, Collins echoed talking points from the lengthy speech she made last week before announcing her support for the then-nominee.

“In this country, we have a presumption of innocence and as a matter of fairness, what I decided to use as a standard was the question of is it more likely than not that Brett Kavanaugh assaulted Christine Ford and there was no corroborating evidence that he did so,” she remarked, emphasizing that the individuals Ford said attended the party where she was allegedly assaulted were unable to back her story.

Asked whether that was simply because it was an unremarkable event for them as opposed to Ford, Collins dismissed that point.

“I don’t really think that is possible when Christine Ford testified that she ran down the stairs and out the door, surely her best friend, who was there, would have followed her and asked her what was wrong,” she told Bash. “Nobody has come forward to say I’m the one who gave you a ride home or I was the other person at the party. I’m not saying she was not sexually assaulted. I believe she was and that that horrible experience has upended her life, but it does not mean that Brett Kavanaugh was her assailant.”