--- title: President Trump Derides 'Very Rude' Kavanaugh Protesters description: President Trump on Friday lashed out at "very rude elevator screamers" and derided the Brett Kavanaugh protesters as "paid professionals" canonical: https://time.com/5416640/donald-trump-elevator-protesters/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-10-05T14:51:29.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-13T08:01:50.275Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Trump Derides Kavanaugh Protesters as 'Elevator Screamers' and 'Paid Professionals' og:description: "The very rude elevator screamers are paid professionals," Trump claimed Friday og:url: https://time.com/5416640/donald-trump-elevator-protesters/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta16f75a104e826f1/69893bf28fd2eeea1935ccdb/donald-trump-brett-kavanaugh-protesters.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3574 og:image:height: 2010 og:image:alt: US-POLITICS-TRUMP og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Trump Derides Kavanaugh Protesters as 'Elevator Screamers' and 'Paid Professionals' twitter:description: "The very rude elevator screamers are paid professionals," Trump claimed Friday twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta16f75a104e826f1/69893bf28fd2eeea1935ccdb/donald-trump-brett-kavanaugh-protesters.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Derides Kavanaugh Protesters as 'Elevator Screamers' and 'Paid Professionals' > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=4b425da6-ab04-44a3-bb9c-044c87e2f39e&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Protestors Confront Sen. Jeff Flake After He Announces He Will Vote to Confirm Kavanaugh [Watch (HLS stream): Protestors Confront Sen. Jeff Flake After He Announces He Will Vote to Confirm Kavanaugh](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/wZewlFbI.m3u8) (4:35)  _Published 2018-09-28. Protestors Confront Sen. Jeff Flake After He Announces He Will Vote to Confirm Kavanaugh_  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Oct 5, 2018 2:51 PM UTC Protestors Confront Sen. Jeff Flake After He Announces He Will Vote to Confirm Kavanaugh  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Oct 5, 2018 2:51 PM UTC President Donald Trump lashed out at some of the protesters [who flooded the U.S. Capitol](http://time.com/5416105/kavanaugh-protest/) to speak out against [Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s](http://time.com/5416241/brett-kavanaugh-wsj-op-ed/) confirmation, calling them “very rude elevator screamers” and “paid professionals.” “The very rude elevator screamers are paid professionals only looking to make Senators look bad,” Trump [tweeted](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1048196883464818688) Friday morning, offering no evidence for his claim that they were paid. “Don’t fall for it! Also, look at all of the professionally made identical signs. Paid for by Soros and others. These are not signs made in the basement from love! #Troublemakers.” Trump has [previously dismissed](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/827483841589891073) protesters by [claiming they were paid](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/853597199619543041). Notably, Trump paid actors from a casting agency to appear as supporters at the launch of his presidential campaign, [the Hollywood _Reporter_ found](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/donald-trump-campaign-offered-actors-803161) in 2015. Protesters, including victims of sexual assault, have confronted Republican Senators in the Capitol during the past week, at least twice in elevators, urging them not to confirm Kavanaugh, who faces allegations of sexual misconduct from three women. Last week, [Christine Blasey Ford](http://time.com/5415027/christine-blasey-ford-testimony/) testified that Kavanaugh had pinned her to a bed, covered her mouth and tried to remove her clothes at a party in high school. Kavanaugh has denied the allegations. Trumps’ comments echoed those of Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, who was asked Friday in a Fox Business interview whether he thinks progressive billionaire George Soros is paying protesters. “I have heard so many people believe that,” Grassley said. “I tend to believe it.” At least a thousand [protesters demonstrated at the Capitol](http://time.com/5416105/kavanaugh-protest/) on Thursday, chanting “arrest sexual predators, not protesters,” holding signs that said, “Believe survivors.” In one instance, women approached Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch as he entered an elevator. “Why aren’t you brave enough to talk to us and exchange with us?” one of the protesters said. Hatch waved them away and told them to “grow up.” > [](https://twitter.com/KUTV2News/status/1048004717492690944) Last week, two women [confronted Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake](http://time.com/5409734/jeff-flake-vote-confirm-kavanaugh/) in an elevator. “You’re telling me that my assault doesn’t matter, that what happened to me doesn’t matter,” one of the women said, urging him to look her in the eyes as she blocked the elevator door from closing. The other woman, 39-year-old Ana Maria Archila, said she confronted Flake because she identified with Ford’s experience. Archila [told TIME](http://time.com/5412444/jeff-flake-elevator-protester/) she was molested by a boy 10 years older, when she was just 5 years old. “No one can pay for someone’s lived experiences. The pain, the trauma, and the rage that I expressed when I spoke with Senator Jeff Flake in an elevator were my own, and I held it for more than 30 years to protect the people I love from it,” Archila said in a statement about Trump’s tweet on Friday. “President Trump is, again, trying to ignore the experiences of people in this country by discrediting individuals who dare to raise our voices and force elected officials to listen to our stories, to look us in the eye, to not turn away.” The women were credited with persuading Flake to change his mind last week. Hours after the confrontation, Flake made his “yes” vote for Kavanaugh conditional, calling for an [FBI investigation](http://time.com/5415845/kavanaugh-fbi-investigation-witnesses/) into the claims of sexual assault. Senators are voting Friday on cloture for Kavanaugh’s confirmation. ## Transcript [00:00] Senator why did you vote yes, Senator tell us [00:08] why you changed your mind. Senator. Senator? Senator [00:08] Frank. But why did you vote yes, I understand [00:10] [ CROSSTALK ] On Monday I stood in front of your office [00:14] On Monday, I stood in front of your office with Annie [00:18] [ INAUDIBLE ]. I told the story of my sexual assault. I told it [00:22] because I recognized Dr. Ford's story that she's telling the [00:26] truth. What you are doing is allowing someone who [00:29] actually violated a woman to sit in the Supreme Court. This [00:33] is not tolerable. You have Children in your family. Think [00:37] about them. I have two children. [00:42] I cannot imagine, that for the next 50 years they will have to [00:43] have someone in the Supreme Court who has been [00:43] accused of violating a young [00:48] girl. What are you [00:53] doing sir? I was sexually assaulted and nobody believed. [00:57] Believe me. I didn't tell anyone, and you're telling all [01:01] women that they don't matter, that they should just stay [01:03] quiet because if they tell you what happened to them, [01:04] you're going to ignore them. That's what happened to me, [01:09] and that's what your telling all women in America, that they [01:11] don't matter, they should just keep it to themselves [01:11] because if they have told the truth they're just gonna help [01:11] that man to power anyway. That's what you're telling all of [01:11] these women, that's what you're telling me right now. Look [01:11] at me when I'm talking to you, you're telling me that my [01:11] assault doesn't matter, that what happened to me doesn't [01:11] matter, and that you're gonna let people who do these [01:12] things into power. That's what you're telling me when you [01:12] vote for him. [ NOISE ] Don't look away from me, look at me [01:12] and tell me that it doesn't matter what happened to me. [01:13] That you let people like that go into the highest court of the [01:13] land and tell everyone what they can do to their bodies. Do [01:13] you have an answer, senator? Senator Flake, do you think [01:13] that Brett Kavanaugh is telling the truth? Do you think that [01:13] he's able to hold the pain of this country and repair it? That [01:13] is the work of justice. The way that justice work is you [01:13] recognize heart. You take responsibility for it. And then you [01:13] begin to repair it. You're allowing someone who is [01:13] unwilling to take responsibility for For his. And actions. I'm [01:13] willing to hear the crime that he has done to one [01:17] woman. Actually three women. [01:22] And prepare. You are [01:26] our [ UNKNOWN ] who is [01:31] unwilling to take responsibility [01:35] for his own actions. [01:39] Willing to sit in [01:44] the higher court of [01:48] the country. And to [01:52] have the role of repairing the [02:02] harm that has been done In [02:06] this country to many people. [02:11] No thank you. What do [02:16] you think? [ CROSSTALK ] Ma'am do [02:21] you wanna talk to his [02:26] staff? No, I wanna talk [02:31] to him? Care to respond? [02:36] I am your staff but tell me, I'm standing right here in front of [02:37] you. What do you have? Do you think that he's telling the [02:38] truth? Do it now. Do you think that he's telling the truth to [02:39] the country? Thank you. You empower and so many [02:40] women are powerless. Thank you. [ INAUDIBLE ] And [02:41] even [ INAUDIBLE ] I'd be happy to talk to you. Can you not [02:42] give him an answer Senator? We have our press available [02:42] to talk to them. You just [03:14] released a press statement, you don't have the courage to [03:16] give them an answer. Okay thank you, thank you. Thank [03:16] you is not an answer Senator. Thank you. Saying thank [03:20] you is not an answer. [ INAUDIBLE ] it's about the future of [03:21] our country, sir. You can be a hero today. [ INAUDIBLE ] to [03:22] a lifetime appointment in the supreme court. That's fine, find [03:22] security. Be a hero. Senator, why not? You can be a hero [03:23] [ INAUDIBLE ] Senator, why now? Why not wait? Why not [03:24] wait for the investigation? There's no hon. How can you [03:25] [ UNKNOWN ] to us, we demand to know what you're [03:26] thinking? Do you [ CROSSTALK ] women? Do you stand [03:26] with this nation with reserved due process? Senator, do [03:27] you want to respond? No I don't. Senator do [03:36] you care to respond? No I didnt go to the hearing, I just [03:36] issued a statement. You sent an email, [03:54] you can't [04:00] give [04:07] an answer? You can't give an answer?- a lot of questions [04:12] here. Do these women not deserve an answer? [04:12] [ UNKNOWN ] Thank you. Do what is right. Do what is [04:13] [ UNKNOWN ]. Stand up for your constituents, [04:21] all of them. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5416640/donald-trump-elevator-protesters/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5416640/donald-trump-elevator-protesters/"},"headline":"President Trump Derides Kavanaugh Protesters as 'Elevator Screamers' and 'Paid Professionals'","datePublished":"2018-10-05T14:51:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-13T08:01:50.275Z","description":"\"The very rude elevator screamers are paid professionals only looking to make Senators look bad\"","url":"https://time.com/5416640/donald-trump-elevator-protesters/","keywords":["Donald Trump","Supreme Court","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta16f75a104e826f1/69893bf28fd2eeea1935ccdb/donald-trump-brett-kavanaugh-protesters.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta16f75a104e826f1/69893bf28fd2eeea1935ccdb/donald-trump-brett-kavanaugh-protesters.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-POLITICS-TRUMP","caption":"US-POLITICS-TRUMP","creditText":"Mandel Ngan—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5416640/donald-trump-elevator-protesters/","name":"President Trump Derides Kavanaugh Protesters as 'Elevator Screamers' and 'Paid Professionals'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Protestors Confront Sen. 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