White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said people are presumed innocent in this country unless they're a "conservative Republican" as she slammed Democrats for politicizing the Supreme Court confirmation process of Brett Kavanaugh.
The White House is standing behind Kavanaugh as he faces two separate allegations of sexual misconduct from the early 1980s, both of which he has flatly denied and lack corroborating evidence.
ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos charged on "Good Morning America" that President Donald Trump—who has said Kavanaugh is being smeared by "false accusations"—was accusing the women of lying, but Sanders responded Kavanaugh had been "unequivocal" in his denials and wanted to be heard in this process.
"Last I can remember, we're still a country where you're innocent until proven guilty, except when you're a conservative Republican," she said. "It is absolutely shameful what the Democrats have done and the way that that they've turned this into a complete political process. Multiple lives have been ruined. Both families have been [dragged] through the mud when they didn't have to be."
Sen. Mazie Hirono (D., Hawaii) said Sunday that Kavanaugh is not presumed innocent in her eyes because of his lack of credibility about his "ideological agenda," and she doubled down when challenged about the remark on Monday.
Sanders slammed Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) in particular for her conduct during the process. Feinstein sat on a letter from Christine Blasey Ford in which she accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her at a high school party in the 1980s. The letter was ultimately leaked after confirmation hearings had concluded.
"I find that to be disgraceful and disgusting and she certainly needs to shoulder a lot of the blame for what's going on right now," Sanders said.
Ford and Kavanaugh are scheduled to testify on Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Sanders said the White House would be "open" to Deborah Ramirez, the woman accusing Kavanaugh of misconduct when they were at Yale, testifying as well.