Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was given a hearty welcome from a room full of conservatives during his first speech since his tumultuous confirmation.
Kavanaugh, 54, delivered the keynote speech at the Federalist Society’s Antonin Scalia Memorial Dinner. About 2,300 guests attended the gathering, which was held inside the main hall of Union Station in Washington, D.C.
The justice received a number of standing ovations while at the event and, unlike other speakers, did not speak about President Trump’s sweeping number of judicial appointments. Rather, Kavanaugh expressed gratitude for those who stood by him during his confirmation.
“My friends paid a heavy price — way too heavy a price. I’m well aware of that, and it pains me daily,” Kavanaugh said. “I signed up for what I knew would be an ugly process — maybe not that ugly — but my friends did not. And yet in the midst of it all, they stood up and stood by me.”
The calm and genial mood inside the hall stood in stark contrast to protests outside. Demonstrators wore red hooded cloaks and played the testimony of Christine Blasey Ford on a large screen outside of the black-tie event.
The Federalist Society’s hosting a black tie dinner inside Union Station tonight, so protestors rolled up a big screen and loud speakers blaring Christine Blasey Ford’s Kavanaugh testimony as a welcome to attendees pic.twitter.com/kX4VjXhgkz
— Matt Laslo (@MattLaslo) November 14, 2019
Ford claims the justice sexually assaulted her in 1982 during a small gathering at a house in suburban Maryland. Kavanaugh has denied the accusation.
Kavanaugh was nominated by Trump to the Supreme Court in July 2018 after the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy. His confirmation marked a conservative 5-4 majority on the nation’s highest court.
