Kavanaugh Supporters Celebrate Win With #Beers4Brett Hashtag as Protestors Swarm Capitol
The U.S. Senate on Saturday confirmed Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination, bringing joy to some Americans and outrage to others.
On the pro-Kavanaugh side, some supporters chose to celebrate with a social media hashtag that, to them, harked back to the new SCOTUS justice's statement under questioning that "I still like beer" when asked about his adolescent consumption.
#Beers4Brett began appearing on Twitter as Kavanaugh was sworn in, and supporters often paired the hashtag with photos of beers and messages of support for the new justice.
Among the most prominent Twitter users to jump in with the hashtag was Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, whose vote helped Kavanaugh win his lifelong appointment.
"Not quite #Beers4Brett," Cornyn wrote along with a photo of campaign, "but #Bubbly4Brett instead."
Cornyn's decision to participate in the hashtag drew criticism from some commenters, who note that Kavanaugh was accused of sexually assaulting a then-teenage Dr. Christine Blasey Ford while he was drunk.
Many of Kavanaugh's opponents say hearing Ford's testimony triggered memories and pain of their own such experiences and saw the confirmation as a slap in the face of the #MeToo movement and of women everywhere.
Among those assailing Cornyn was social strategist and entrepreneur Jessica Shortall.
I met you once. We sat together when I spoke at an org that empowers girls. I believed in you then.
You think BK has been smeared by the left’s nonexistent paid protestors? Fine. But this tweet reveals a deeper truth: all of our pain is a joke to you.
Have you no decency, sir?— Let's Scare Jessica Shortall To Death (@jessicashortall) October 7, 2018
"I met you once. We sat together when I spoke at an org that empowers girls," Shortall responded to Cornyn. "I believed in you then. You think BK has been smeared by the left’s nonexistent paid protestors? Fine. But this tweet reveals a deeper truth: all of our pain is a joke to you. Have you no decency, sir?"
Kavanaugh has denied the charge he ever assaulted any women, but that wasn't enough to keep throngs of protesters from swarming Capitol Hill and the Supreme Court on Saturday.
According to CBS News, police said they arrested some 164 people in Washington on charges of crowding, obstructing or incommoding.
Demonstrations were scheduled nationwide in cities including Atlanta, New York, and Cleveland.
President Trump, meanwhile, has taken to characterizing many such protesters as actors paid to make his nominee look back.
The very rude elevator screamers are paid professionals only looking to make Senators look bad. Don’t fall for it! Also, look at all of the professionally made identical signs. Paid for by Soros and others. These are not signs made in the basement from love! #Troublemakers
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 5, 2018
You don’t hand matches to an arsonist, and you don’t give power to an angry left-wing mob. Democrats have become too EXTREME and TOO DANGEROUS to govern. Republicans believe in the rule of law - not the rule of the mob. VOTE REPUBLICAN!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 7, 2018
At a rally in Kansas where Trump spoke following the vote, he told attendees it was "a historic night" for America and the Constitution while blasting Democrats and praising Republicans.
“I want to thank our incredible Republican senators for refusing to back down to the Democrats’ shameless campaign of political and personal destruction,” he said in Topeka.
Trump also took to Twitter on the matter. "You don’t hand matches to an arsonist, and you don’t give power to an angry left-wing mob," he wrote. "Democrats have become too EXTREME and TOO DANGEROUS to govern. Republicans believe in the rule of law - not the rule of the mob. VOTE REPUBLICAN!"
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