Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, used a violent metaphor Tuesday to express sympathy for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. It recalled a metaphor used the last time Americans found themselves witnessing a Supreme Court sexual-misconduct scandal.

The Washington Post reported that senior Republicans are increasingly determined to press forward with Kavanaugh’s nomination despite his accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, saying that the Federal Bureau of Investigation should investigate her allegation before she testifies in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“They’ve had tons of time to do this,” Graham said of Democrats vetting the accusation. “This has been a drive-by shooting when it comes to Kavanaugh . . . I’ll listen to the lady, but we’re going to bring this to a close.”

That phrase – “drive-by shooting – echoed words used by then-Supreme Court Justice nominee Clarence Thomas, who was accused of sexual harassment by law professor Anita Hill after President George H.W. Bush nominated him in 1991. Thomas told the Senate Judiciary Committee at the time:

“This is a circus. It’s a national disgrace. And from my standpoint, as a black American, it is a high-tech lynching for uppity blacks who in any way deign to think for themselves, to do for themselves, to have different ideas, and it is a message that unless you kowtow to an old order, this is what will happen to you. You will be lynched, destroyed, caricatured by a committee of the U.S. Senate rather than hung from a tree.”

Thomas’s words attracted national attention for their unapologetic reference to race. Part of Thomas’s legacy has been avoiding what many conservatives would call “playing the race card.” But his direct acknowledgment of his ethnicity and a violent act that historically has been used against black men often falsely accused of committing sexual crimes was meant to communicate that it was he who was the victim in this situation – not his accuser.

Graham’s words – though obviously devoid of racial implications, given the identities of those involved – also imply that Kavanaugh is the real victim, an innocent bystander in harm’s way. Trump on Tuesday likewise suggested that Kavanaugh has been harmed by this situation.

“I feel so badly for him that he’s going through this,” Trump said. “This is not a man that deserves this.”

In the #MeToo era, increasing attention has been put on how women are affected immediately and long-term by sexual violence by powerful men. But Kavanaugh defenders are more readily placing their sympathy with the accused. To be sure, facing a false allegation of a despicable act would be at least hurtful and potentially ruinous.

A lot has changed since 1991, including the recent onus to “believe women” when they come forward. But that’s far from universally accepted. As in the Thomas hearings, what we are seeing from some of the nominee’s defenders now is the often-mentioned belief in the harm that can be caused by “believing women.”