A Democratic strategist believes his party, justifiably, will suffer a backlash at the ballot box in November for its handling of Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court.
"Democrats will suffer the rightful consequences of using the victims of sexual assault to advance a political agenda," Bryan Dean Wright, a former CIA agent, wrote in a commentary for FoxNews.com.
Wright said that with regard to the allegations of sexual assault by Christine Blasey Ford, Democrats "had the opportunity to do the right thing work with Republicans quietly, privately, and investigate the allegations — not in the public domain, not do a fact-finding mission in front of cameras, but to do it discreetly."
"Instead we used allegations at the last possible minute, rallied up our base and frankly retraumatized a whole bunch of people," he said.
"Not just Ms. Ford but a lot of folks in America who suffered from sexual assault. So that is the strategy that I found appalling watching these past couple of months," he wrote.
Wright said Sens. Dianne Feinstein, the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Chuck Schumer, the minority leader, "really, really screwed up."
"They had an opportunity to continue with the wind in their back and move this towards victory in November. And they blew it. They absolutely blew it," he said.
Meanwhile, President Trump also warned Monday of a midterm-election backlash as he reacted to threats by Democrats to impeach Kavanaugh after the judge was narrowly confirmed Saturday by the Senate in a 50-48 vote.
"I've been hearing that now they're thinking about impeaching a brilliant jurist, a man that did nothing wrong, a man that was caught up in a hoax set up by the Democrats, using the Democrats’ lawyers. Now they want to impeach him," Trump said.
"I've heard this from many people. I think it's an insult to the American public, and I think you're going to see a lot of things happen on November 6 that would not have happened before."
President Trump on talks of Kavanaugh impeachment: "I think it's an insult to the American public, and I think you're going to see a lot of things happen on November 6 that would not have happened before" pic.twitter.com/MINAGYJTJx
— NBC News (@NBCNews) October 8, 2018
After Kavanaugh's confirmation Saturday, the Daily Wire reported, protesters broke through a police line at the Supreme Court building and barged to the court's chamber, "where they proceeded to wail, gnash teeth, and pound at the doors while Kavanaugh was being sworn in inside."
Angry leftists pound and scratch on the doors of #SCOTUS. This hatred and rage is bad for America, and it’s not who we are. pic.twitter.com/NeLmARuCpI
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) October 8, 2018
The outrage from the left against Kavanaugh's nomination immediately spread across social media.
A Twitter rant by Google design lead Dave Hogue, for example, claimed Republicans will "descend into the flames" of hell, Breitbart News reported.
Hogue described Republicans as "treasonous" and "evil."
"You are finished, @GOP. You polished the final nail for your own coffins. F---. YOU. ALL. TO. HELL," he wrote. "I hope the last images burned into your slimy, evil, treasonous retinas are millions of women laughing and clapping and celebrating as your souls descend into the flames."
Hogue later deleted the post and wrote that he "should have been more eloquent and less condemning" in his reaction to Kavanaugh's confirmation.