President Trump offered words of support for his Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, as he faces an allegation of sexual assault, saying Tuesday he feels “terribly” for Kavanaugh, who “is not a man that deserves this.”
“I feel so badly for him that he is going through this, to be honest with you,” Trump said during a joint press conference with Andrzej Duda, the president of Poland. “This is not a man that deserves this. This should have been brought to the fore; it should have been brought up long ago.”
Trump nominated Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court in July, kicking off a fiery confirmation battle that was thrust into turmoil last week when allegations of sexual assault began to surface.
On Sunday, the Washington Post published an article detailing the accusation from Christine Blasey Ford, a California professor. Ford said the alleged sexual assault involving Kavanaugh occurred at a party in the early 1980s, when they were both in high school.
Kavanaugh has categorically denied the allegation, and the Senate Judiciary Committee scheduled a public hearing for Monday during which both Kavanaugh and Ford were invited to testify.
Kavanaugh said in a statement he is willing to appear before the committee, but Ford has not yet responded to multiple emails from the committee regarding the hearing, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said.
Senate Democrats have called for the FBI to re-open its investigation into Kavanaugh, and Trump said it would not bother him if the FBI were to do so.
[Trump: FBI shouldn’t get ‘involved’ in Kavanaugh sexual assault controversy]
The president praised his pick to the Supreme Court, calling him an “incredible individual, great intellect, great judge” with an “impeccable history in every way.”
“I just think he is at a level that we rarely see, not only in government, anywhere in life,” Trump said. “And honestly, I feel terribly for him, for his wife, who is an incredible lovely woman, and for his beautiful young daughters. I feel terribly for them.”
Trump also chided Senate Democrats for failing to raise the allegation of sexual assault earlier in the confirmation process, including during Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing, and said it is part of their playbook.
“Why didn’t the Democrats bring it up then? Because they obstruct and because they resist,” he said. “That’s the name of their campaign against me. They just resist, and they just obstruct.”
But Trump said he believes Republicans should “go through a process” to eliminate any doubts about Kavanaugh.
“They should have done this a long time ago, three months ago. Not now. But they did it now, so I don’t want to play into their hands,” he said. “Hopefully, the woman will come forward, state her case. He will state his case before representatives of the United States Senate, and then they will vote. They will look at his career, they will look at what she had though say from 36 years ago, and we will see what happens.”
