Donald Trump Jr. slammed West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin on Friday over the Democratic senator’s timing in announcing his support for President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
The president’s eldest son noted that Manchin’s announcement came moments after Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) signaled her support for Kavanaugh, giving him the necessary votes to win confirmation.
“A real profile in courage,” Trump Jr. wrote mockingly of Manchin, whom he dubbed a “lyin’ liberal.”
“I bet he had another press release ready to go if Collins went the other way,” Trump Jr. added while calling on followers to support Manchin’s GOP challenger, West Virginia Attorney General Patt Morrissey.
Republicans had for weeks put pressure on Manchin, who represents a state President Trump won by 42 points in 2016, to support Kavanaugh. Manchin, who is the only Democrat to support Kavanaugh, was joined by two other Democrats last year in voting for Trump’s first nominee to the Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch.
{mosads}Manchin told reporters that he made his decision about Kavanaugh’s nomination Friday morning, but “out of respect” did not issue his statement announcing his decision until Collins delivered her speech.
“I saw that Sen. Collins — I wanted to, out of respect, I wanted to watch her give hers … and then I made my decision and I gave my reasons for my decision,” Manchin said in an interview with CNN’s Manu Raju.
The Senate is slated to hold a final vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination on Saturday, capping off weeks of controversy after multiple women came forward to accuse him of sexual misconduct stemming from his days in high school and college in the 1980s.
Kavanaugh has fiercely denied the allegations, and the FBI launched a days-long investigation into sexual assault allegations against the nominee.
Several GOP senators on Thursday who remained publicly undecided on his nomination said the investigation did not corroborate allegations against him, while Democrats blasted the investigation as inadequate.