Here's a Bunch of Republicans Desperately Trying to Escape Talking to Sexual Violence Survivors

Now that the FBI investigation into the Brett Kavanaugh allegations is underway, we’ve reached a bit of a lull in the process after last week’s emotional testimony. But activists were on Capitol Hill on Monday to righteously badger Republicans about why they’re still backing Kavanaugh—actions which yielded a number of videos of elected officials literally running away from sexual violence survivors.

So far, the group CPD Action, an arm of the advocacy group Popular Democracy, has tweeted videos of their activists approaching Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Georgia Sen. David Perdue. These interactions did not go well!

In one video, after benignly answering two activists—whom CPD identified as sexual assault survivors—with platitudes about how his “heart goes out to anybody” affected by sexual violence, Corker seemed to get frustrated, telling them: “Look, I know this is enjoyable to y’all,” shortly before the video ends, when it appears that Corker escapes the scene into a waiting car.

When the group—which included a woman who identified herself as a state representative—approached Perdue, he warned the activists, “Don’t touch me,” before collegially ducking into a men’s restroom rather than risk the interaction continuing further. Charming!

And then finally (for now), activists tried to get answers from McConnell, who was rolling deep with his security detail. He certainly wouldn’t want to risk one having to directly respond to one of his constituents!

Putting pressure on politicians—to their faces—works. I’ve reached out to CPD for more information about the action (I’ll update this post if and when they respond) but Ana María Archila, the group’s co-executive director, was one of the two women who cornered Sen. Jeff Flake before the Senate Judiciary Committee’s vote last week and captured the viral video of the incident. Flake, for his part, looked just as uncomfortable as every Senate Republican should be made to feel as they prepare to waltz through this FBI investigation en route to confirming Kavanaugh—so it’s a balm to see activists spreading the love around.