Poll: More Believe Ford Than Kavanaugh, A Cultural Shift From 1991

Christine Blasey Ford is sworn in before her testimony Thursday on Capitol Hill in the confirmation battle over Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court.

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After a day of wrenching testimony from Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford — who has accused him of sexual assault in high school — more Americans say they believe Ford’s account over Kavanaugh’s denials, according to an NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll released Wednesday.

In choosing who is telling the truth, 45 percent said Ford is, up from 32 percent ahead of her Sept. 27 testimony. A third (33 percent) said Kavanaugh is the one telling the truth, up slightly from 26 percent before he testified but not as much of a rise as for Ford.

The daylong hearing appears to have been influential in helping people decide who was telling the truth. Before the hearing, 42 percent said they were unsure whom to believe. Now, just 22 percent are unsure.