President Trump on Wednesday claimed that voters “are really angry” with the “vicious and despicable way” that Democrats have treated Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Three women — Christine Blasey Ford, Julie Swetnick and Deborah Ramirez — have publicly accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct, upending his confirmation process.
{mosads}The FBI is currently looking into those accusations as part of a reopened background check into the high court nominee. GOP Sens. Jeff Flake (Ariz.), Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), all considered possible swing votes on Kavanaugh, joined Democrats in calling for the new investigation, which was given a one-week deadline.
Trump has come to the defense of Kavanaugh, telling reporters Tuesday that Kavanaugh has been treated unfairly and the accusations against him have created a “scary time for young men.”
“It’s a very scary situation where you’re guilty until proven innocent,” Trump said. “That is a very, very difficult standard.”
Trump escalated his rhetoric at a Tuesday evening rally in Mississippi, attacking Ford’s testimony last week before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which he had previously called “very compelling.”
“How did you get home?” Trump said. “‘I don’t remember.’ How’d you get there? ‘I don’t remember.’ Where is the place? ‘I don’t remember.’ How many years ago was it? ‘I don’t know.'”
“What neighborhood was it in?” he added to cheers and applause. “‘I don’t know.’ Where’s the house? ‘I don’t know.’ Upstairs, downstairs, where was it? ‘I don’t know, but I had one beer. That’s the only thing I remember.'”
Ford told senators on the Judiciary panel that Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed upstairs at a party when they were both in high school in the 1980s and attempted to remove her clothing, covering her mouth with his hand when she tried to scream.
She said she could hear “uproarious laughter” from Kavanaugh and his friend Mark Judge as they went back downstairs after the attack.