The Senate Judiciary Committee is witnessing a very different Kavanaugh than the nominee who came before them two weeks ago. He is not a job applicant this time. He is a defendant fighting for his name against uncorroborated allegations that he was a serial sexual predator in his youth. And he’s angry about it, which is understandable.
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It was also understandable when Kavanaugh openly mocked Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., for his idiotic questions about insider jokes in his high school yearbook and youthful drinking of beer. (“Do you like beer?” Kavanaugh pushed back when asked if he ever blacked out from drinking. “Senator, what do you like to drink? What do you like to drink?”)
That exchange was a little irreverent, but not out of line. Kavanaugh keeps getting asked to answer the same questions about his high school yearbook, about his weak stomach, about his ability to drink beer without blacking out (he says he can). Plenty of people, especially base voters, will identify with the irreverence and it will play to his favor.
It was a mistake, however, when Kavanaugh grilled Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. Like every other Democrat on the committee, she asked the nominee if he ever drank to the point of blacking out. Watch the video below:
Asked if he ever drank to the point of blacking out, Brett Kavanaugh says no, asking Sen. Klobuchar, “Have you?”
“Could you answer the question, judge? So, that’s not happened, is that your answer?”
“Yeah, and I’m curious if you have.” https://t.co/zIU8rSNJ7U #KavanaughHearings pic.twitter.com/gmSkheia1V
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) September 27, 2018
Kavanaugh: “If you’re asking about blackout. I don’t know — have you?”
Klobuchar: “Could you answer the question, judge? … So, that’s not what happened, is that your answer?”
Kavanaugh: “Yeah, and I’m curious if you have.”
Klobuchar: “I have no drinking problem, judge.”
Kavanaugh: “Nor do I.”
Klobuchar: “OK. Thank you.”
Klobuchar, unlike her colleagues, had been respectful and really seemed to be looking for answers. Making matters worse, the senator had just finished sharing a story about her own father’s struggle with alcoholism. It was cringe-worthy and it was unnecessary, which is why it was good that Kavanaugh apologized.
“I was going to say, I started my last colloquy by saying to Sen. Klobuchar how much I respect her and respected what she did at the last hearing, and she asked me a question at the end that I responded to by asking her a question. I’m sorry I did that. This is a tough process. I’m sorry about that.”
Klobuchar accepted the apology, which was a credit to her character. But Kavanaugh might not be so lucky next time. The nominee has shot from the hip so far with great success. He grazed his foot with that exchange. To survive this hearing, Kavanaugh must not make the same mistake again.
