Rock Hill, SC (WCNC) - Congressman Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) is defending himself after being criticized for comments he made saying Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg claimed she was groped by President Abraham Lincoln.
The Republican congressman made the comment during a Thursday debate with his Democratic opponent, Archie Parnell, which was recorded by The Herald of Rock Hill.
Referencing the coverage of sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Rep. Norman said, "Did y'all hear the latest, late-breaking news from the Kavanaugh hearings? Ruth Bader Ginsburg came out that she was groped by Abraham Lincoln."
In a Friday interview he conducted only with NBC Charlotte, he stood by his comment and blamed the media for what he described as "selective outrage."
"It was bringing levity. We had a serious debate on issues," Rep. Norman said. "I didn't have it written down. I just thought of it when I got up there."
He said the joke he repeated is intended to criticize the news media for how it’s covering the sexual assault allegations against Judge Kavanaugh, but he claimed the news media is distorting the intent of his joke.
"People can argue all day long. It wasn't funny. I took it wrong, but when the press, and I blame the media for making a front page article that basically said, 'Norman makes joke about spousal abuse,' or whatever the actual word was, is unfair and misleading when the domestic abuse actually happened to my opponent," Rep. Norman said.
His opponent, Parnell, confessed in a Twitter video back in June that he hit his ex-wife in the 1970s.
The congressman said his family and staffers received threats of sexual assault and violence.
He said the United States Capitol Police is investigating a shooting threat made against his district office.
He said, “over a comment that this media is guilty of inciting, and I’m the one outraged and offended.”