Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) says she doesn’t believe Brett Kavanaugh will overturn a landmark abortion ruling if he’s confirmed to the Supreme Court.
“Well first of all I do not believe he’s going to repeal Roe v. Wade,” Collins told Showtime’s “The Circus,” when asked about how she could potentially be “the vote” that puts Kavanaugh on the court and leads to the landmark 1973 case being repealed.
Kavanaugh has come under heavy scrutiny because Democrats and progressive groups believe he would be the fifth vote for scaling back or nixing Roe.
Kavanaugh told Collins during their meeting earlier this year that he views the ruling as “settled law.”
A clip of Collins’s interview was published on Twitter on Monday, but her spokeswoman said the interview took place on Friday, before a bombshell New Yorker report over the weekend that revealed a second allegation of sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh.
Collins at the time of the interview told Showtime that she was “very close” to making a decision.
“How could I decide before hearing the testimony of Professor Ford? … I’m close, I’m very close but I’m not all the way there yet,” Collins said, referring to the woman who has accused Kavanaugh of committing sexual assault in the early 1980s.
The New Yorker article, published on Sunday evening, reported that Senate Democrats are investigating a second sexual misconduct allegation dating back to Kavanaugh’s freshman year at Yale University. Kavanaugh has denied wrongdoing.
Collins declined to comment to reporters about Kavanaugh on Monday.