Character Assassination on Judge Brett Kavanaugh in his 2018 Supreme Court Confirmation Hearing
William L Benoit, Kevin A Stein
On July 9, 2018, President Donald Trump nominated Judge Brett Kavanaugh to fill a vacant seat on the Supreme Court. Republicans were naturally excited at the possibility of a conservative majority on the court; not surprisingly Democrats were opposed. Kavanaugh's nomination provoked a storm of controversy largely focused on accusations of sexual assault from Christine Blasey Ford. The hearing, held on September 27th, featured testimony by Ford and pointed comments by Senate Democrats. The Senate voted to confirm Kavanaugh 50-48 as the 114th Supreme Court justice on October 6, 2018. This essay applies the Theory of Persuasive Attack to criticisms leveled against Kavanaugh during the Senate confirmation hearing. These criticisms argued that Kavanaugh was responsible for the act, enhanced perceptions of the offensiveness of the act, and indicated that Kavanaugh possessed an unfavorable character.
Brett Kavanaugh nomination / Supreme Court / offensiveness / persuasive attack / character assassination / sexual assault /
Copyright (c) 2021 Kevin A Stein, William L Benoit
William L Benoit
William L. Benoit (Ph.D., Wayne State University) is a Professor of Communication Studies at University of Alabama, Birmingham. He developed and applied the Theory of Persuasive Attack. Bill has published several articles on persuasive attack; he published Persuasive attack on Donald Trump in the 2016 Republican primaries with Mark Glantz.
Kevin A Stein
Southern Utah University
Kevin A. Stein (PhD – University of Missouri-Columbia, 2005) is a Professor in the Communication Department at Southern Utah University. His primary research interests include persuasive attack (kategoria), persuasive defense (apologia), and persuasive response to image repair (antapologia). His other research interests include political campaign communication and popular culture. His work has been published in Western Journal of Communication, Communication Studies, Relevant Rhetoric, Argumentation & Advocacy, and several edited book volumes.