Nikki Haley Declines To Echo Trump's Skepticism About Kavanaugh Accuser

U.S. United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley distanced herself on Sunday from President Donald Trump s skeptical comments about the woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulted her, saying that accusers should not be second-guessed about their handling of alleged attacks.

In a pair of tweets on Friday, Trump attempted to discredit Christine Blasey Ford s accusations by questioning why she didnt immediately report her allegations to law enforcement in 1982 when both she and Kavanaugh were high school students.

Haley, appointed to her post by Trump, was asked on CNN s State of the Union whether she was comfortable with the presidents comments.

The message Im comfortable with is that accusers go through a lot of trauma and some handle it one way and some handle it the other way, Haley told host Jake Tapper. Regardless, you never its not something that we want to do, to blame the accuser or try to second guess the accuser.

She continued: We dont know the situation she was going through 35 years ago. We dont know the circumstances. ... What Ive said often is she deserves respect. She deserves to be heard. Kavanaugh, who has been accused, deserves to be heard. And I think well get all our answers within a few days.

US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley says the Ford hearing should happen swiftly and quickly: Every accuser deserves the right to be heard. But at the same time, I think the accused deserves the right to be heard #CNNSOTU https://t.co/cFprUnWh6M pic.twitter.com/ryPEjFN1uh

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US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley says the Ford hearing should happen swiftly and quickly: Every accuser deserves the right to be heard. But at the same time, I think the accused deserves the right to be heard #CNNSOTU https://t.co/cFprUnWh6M pic.twitter.com/ryPEjFN1uh
CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) September 23, 2018

Trumps tweets highlighted the common and misguided notion that victims of sexual assault will typically respond by calling the police and that something must be amiss if they dont. In fact, nearly two-thirds of women who are raped or sexually assaulted dont contact law enforcement officials .

Blasey, a 51-year-old research psychologist in Northern California, has reached an agreement to testify about her experience before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. The panel has delayed their vote on whether to advance Kavanaughs confirmation to the full Senate to hear Blaseys testimony.

Kavanaugh, 53, has denied Blaseys allegation and will appear again before the committee on Thursday following her testimony.

Blasey identified herself last Sunday as the woman who sent a confidential letter in late July to Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) to express her concern over Kavanaughs nomination. She has alleged Kavanaugh pinned her down, groped her and covered her mouth with his hand when they were teenagers at a small party in suburban Maryland.

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Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, said on CNN that Judiciary Committee members have a huge responsibility to make sure their consideration of Blaseys accusations is fair.

They have to take the politics out of their examination of the allegation, she said. And for the good of both families, I think they have to do this swiftly and quickly, and they have to do it with a lot of care.

We dont know what the truth is, Haley said. But well find out.