Looming Ford, Kavanaugh Hearings Prompt Waves of Emotions

The day before Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Dr. Christine Blasey Ford were scheduled to testify in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, we asked New Yorkers if they were going to watch — and how they felt about it.

"I just can't stand to see another woman pilloried for her outspokenness," said Fletcher Copp, 75, who remembers watching the Anita Hill testimony against then-nominee Clarence Thomas in 1991.

"I just can't go there again," said Copp.

Ford says Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a high school party decades ago. Kavanaugh denies Ford's allegations, as well as the charges from other women who have come forward in recent days.

Jenna, a psychologist who declined to give her last name, said that she wasn't planning to watch the drama unfold on television, but she expected it would seep into her life in other ways. 

"Everybody comes in talking about it, actually," Jenna said. She added that most of her clients are outraged that Kavanaugh has yet to withdraw his name from consideration.

One man strolling through Washington Square Park didn't think that Kavanaugh needed to drop out of the running, saying that an apology would suffice.

"There are people who are sorry for things that happened when they were young and teenagers and whatever," said Michael Easterday, who was on vacation from Wabash, Ind. "But it's in the past, and to be able to destroy someone's life now, I don't know if I agree with that."

Two other women have come forward accusing the nominee of sexual assault. Senate Republicans have scheduled a vote on whether or not to confirm Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court for Friday morning.