When 23-year-old Maria Gallagher and 39-year-old Ana Maria Archila confronted Sen. Jeff Flake in an elevator Friday about his vote on Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination, they helped change the course of history while speaking on behalf of millions of women across the country.
The confrontation, in which they related their own experiences with sexual violence, convinced Flake to change his mind about calling for an FBI investigation of the multiple credible allegations against Kavanaugh. It was powerful stuff.
But it also prompted Fox News’ Laura Ingraham, host of The Ingraham Angle, and guest contributor Raymond Arroyo to mock Gallagher and Archila and claim the exchange was staged.
After playing a clip of the incident, Ingraham derided the two women, saying, “Look at me, look at me. I’m sorry…”
Before that, Ingraham and Arroyo had bantered back and forth about how demonstrations on Capitol Hill were carried out by “paid protesters,” and that public outrage over how Republicans have handled Kavanaugh’s nomination process was like “something out of one of those Frankenstein movies.”
“Poor Lindsey Graham, he was outrunning the mob,” Arroyo said. “This looked like something out of one of those Frankenstein movies, you know, where the villagers…they’re yelling and screaming at him with signs, poking him.”
“Paid protesters,” Ingraham chimed in.
After playing a clip of Gallagher and Archila, Arroyo asked, “Do you think this was staged?” That’s when Ingraham mocked the two women.
“First of all, who’s his staff?” Ingraham asked about Flake. “Where’s the Capitol police, and why is this allowed to happen? If you did that to one of those women, they would be screaming harassment.”
“I worry that by giving in to this horde,” continued Arroyo, “you are going to unleash another Antifa-like swarm, and this will continue. What are we teaching kids? Throw a temper tantrum, you get what you want.”
Speaking of temper tantrums, did Arroyo happen to watch Kavanaugh’s testimony on Thursday? Or Sen. Lindsey Graham’s conveniently timed shouting rant attacking his Democratic colleagues?
On Twitter, Ingraham shared a post by right-wing blog Big League Politics with the headline, “Woman Who Confronted Flake In Elevator Runs Soros-Funded Organization.”