Listening to Dr. Ford's Testimony, People Are Heartbroken

"Outside the hearing there are groups of women huddled over phones, streaming Dr. Ford’s testimony, crying."

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Christine Blasey Ford does not want to be here. She said as much at the beginning of her testimony—that she feels it is her duty, to her country and to the people in it, and that is why she's here. "I am terrified," Dr. Ford admitted, her voice breaking as she began to speak about what she says happened to her at the hands of Brett Kavanaugh, the man President Trump nominated to the Supreme Court. (Kavanaugh denies Dr. Ford's claims.) Watching Dr. Ford force herself to confront a past trauma, in full view of the entire world and an army of men who have already said they don't believe her, is unspeakably hard.

Rachel Mitchell, the prosecutor brought on by Republicans to question Dr. Ford and Kavanaugh, took a moment to acknowledge Dr. Ford's terror. “The first thing that struck me from your statement this morning was that you are terrified. And I just wanted to let you know I’m very sorry," Mitchell said. "That’s not right.”

Even a cursory glance at Twitter during Dr. Ford's brave testimony revealed that women and survivors—many of whom say they're forcing themselves to watch it to honor Dr. Ford and her courage—are finding it exceedingly difficult to behold. How could it not be? Watching someone relive one of the worst moments of their life, knowing that she won't be believed, knowing that the men watching her are actively trying not to engage with her pain—it's impossible not to feel profound empathy.

A number of Democratic politicians also shared their support for Dr. Ford and her bravery during the hearing.

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Jenny Hollander
Digital Director

Jenny is the Digital Director at Marie Claire. A graduate of Leeds University, and a native of London, she moved to New York in 2012 to attend the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She was the first intern at Bustle when it launched in 2013 and spent five years building out its news and politics department. In 2018 she joined Marie Claire, where she held the roles of Deputy Digital Editor and Director of Content Strategy before becoming Digital Director. Working closely with Marie Claire's exceptional editorial, audience, commercial, and e-commerce teams, Jenny oversees the brand's digital arm, with an emphasis on driving readership. When she isn't editing or knee-deep in Google Analytics, you can find Jenny writing about television, celebrities, her lifelong hate of umbrellas, or (most likely) her dog, Captain. In her spare time, she writes fiction: her first novel, the thriller EVERYONE WHO CAN FORGIVE ME IS DEAD, was published with Minotaur Books (UK) and Little, Brown (US) in February 2024 and became a USA Today bestseller. She has also written extensively about developmental coordination disorder, or dyspraxia, which she was diagnosed with when she was nine.

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