On his way to deliver a speech before the United Nations in New York, President Donald Trump stopped to answer a reporter's question about his embattled Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. To paraphrase Tammy Wynette, Trump plans to "stand by his man."
The President stated:
"He's a fine man with an unblemished past, and these are highly unsubstantiated claims by people represented by lawyers—you should look into the lawyers doing the representation—Judge Kavanaugh is an outstanding person and I am with hm all the way..."
"...I think it could be—there's a chance that this could be—one of the single most unjust, unfair things to happen to a candidate for anything. But I am with Judge Kavanaugh and I look forward to a vote."
"And for people to come out of the woodwork 36 years ago, 30 years ago, and never mention it, all of a sudden it happens, in my opinion it's political, it's totally political."
Watch video of the President's statement here.
The Senate Judiciary Committee hearings already drew controversy for pushing forward with less than 10 percent of Kavanaugh's record made available and charges of perjury against Kavanaugh based on false statements he made in his prior Senate confirmation hearing in 2006.
But then it was revealed Dr. Christine Blasey Ford contacted first her House Representative who directed her to Senate Judiciary Committee Senior Minority member, Republican Senator Dianne Feinstein, with allegations of sexual assault against Kavanaugh. Ford was 15 at the time of the assault and Kavanaugh attended a nearby all boys boarding prep school.
Then a second woman came forward and now a third may soon come forward as well. Republican leaders on the Judiciary Committee originally stated Ford must appear before them on Monday or not at all, but later relented to working with Ford to accommodate her needs and pushed her testimony to Thursday.
Now with new allegations emerging almost daily, Democrats requested the testimony be pushed even further back. No word yet on whether that request will be honored.
President Trump's statement at the UN in New York Monday morning drew heavy criticism online. Many brought the President's own dubious past.
In a review of several news organizations' reports on the President's comments, support for Trump or Kavanaugh is virtually nonexistent even on the President's favorite network, Fox News as the following shows.
While Trump managed to gather some support on a post tagged "POTUS pledges support of Kavanaugh in wake of new, 'totally political' sexual misconduct allegations" by Fox News, there still were many detractors.
And off Fox News posts, the President received equally brutal feedback.
The Republican Senate Judiciary Committee and Senate leadership, led by Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have not verified since the latest allegations against Kavanaugh if they plan to continue to try to push through his confirmation process without a complete background check, unlike the Justice Clarence Thomas hearings and without most of Kavanaugh's records being made available, unlike every other Supreme Court Justice's confirmation process.
Midterm elections are slated for Tuesday, November 6, 2018.
