
CNN Newsroomās Brooke Baldwin ended her Friday afternoon program with a monologue, giving voice toĀ survivors of sexual assault sharing their truth in the wake of Christine Blasey Fordās testimony against Brett Kavanaugh.
āWe all have our stories,ā Baldwin said, voice steady as her eyes became glassy with tears. āThe spiked drink. Waking up on the cold tiles of a hotel bathroom floor. The uncertainty. The shame. The thought I must have somehow brought this on myself. The silence, distrust, and invalidation. This is a pivotal moment in America for all of us.ā
Baldwin added, āThis matters. This moment is bigger than politics.ā
Fordās testimony moved millions of Americans and brought untold numbers of survivors out of the shadows. Baldwin spoke of a young woman in her office sharing her own story after Fordās hearing. C-SPANās talk line was flooded with stories from sexual assault survivors, including a 76-year-old woman whose story of being molested as a second grader went viral. This morning, 23-year-old Maria Gallagher said she hadĀ never told anyone about her sexual assault until she ambushed Senator Jeff Flake in an elevator, potentially prompting Flake to call for a more thorough investigation into Fordās claims against Kavanaugh.