There is a name for what Senator Collins is doing when she tells the media that she believes Dr. Christine Blasey Ford was assaulted, but just not by Judge Kavanaugh: gaslighting.
The term gaslighting has popped up frequently during the Trump presidency and I have seen people asking to have it explained. And here with Senator Collins is a great, but unfortunate, example. Senator Collins is telling Dr. Ford that she is mistaken, that it wasn’t really Judge Kavanaugh that assaulted her, it was someone else. Josh Marshall, over at TPM, has a thorough take on it: talkingpointsmemo.com/… Marshall believes that the GOP concocted this myth to minimize party damage. He doesn’t use the term gaslighting though, I do.
People that frequently gaslight are often described as toxic or personality disordered. Maybe it can even be used to describe a political party. My favorite website that discusses how to handle toxic people in your life, outofthefog.net, uses this definition:
Gaslighting - The practice of brainwashing or convincing a mentally healthy individual that they are going insane or that their understanding of reality is mistaken or false. The term “Gaslighting” is based on the 1944 MGM movie “Gaslight”.
Sounds like what the GOP is doing to Dr. Christine Blasey Ford doesn’t it?