A second Republican senator wavering on Brett Kavanaugh is criticizing President Donald Trump’s mocking of a woman who’s accused the Supreme Court nominee of sexually attacking her in the 1980s. Collins refused to respond to questions Wednesday morning about which way she would vote.
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Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democrats’ leader from NY, accused Kavanaugh of delivering a “partisan screed” during the Judiciary Committee hearing last week.
The political messaging battle over Supreme Court hopeful Brett Kavanaugh opened into full gender warfare as the Federal Bureau of Investigation probe of claims of sexual misconduct came closer to wrapping up, GOP leaders promised a vote by week’s end, and the midterm elections loom. “The Senate will vote on Judge Kavanaugh here, on this floor, this week”, McConnell told the chamber. “Even among Democrats, whose senators have been leading the charge against the nominee, 40 percent agree with Kavanaugh’s statement, and only slightly more (43 percent) disagree”.
An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll from September 23, just a week after the allegations were known, showed interest in the election among white men at 64 percent, higher than in 2010 when Republicans retook the House and 2014 when the GOP took control of the Senate.
The allegations against Kavanaugh – including sexual assault and exposing himself to a young woman in college – have sparked the latest reckoning in America about sexual assault and men’s treatment of women, bringing the #MeToo movement back to the fore. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Joe Donnelly of IN and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota.
“We are finally rebuilding our country, and we are doing it with American aluminum, American steel and with our great electrical contractors”, he said. Trump denied all the allegations, calling the women “horrible, frightful liars”. She said, “I’m waiting to see what the results are”.
“A vicious, vile and soulless attack on Dr. Christine Blasey Ford”, tweeted Michael Bromwich, a former high-ranking Department of Justice official who is now representing the professor. Kavanaugh has angrily denied the allegations.
Earlier Tuesday, Trump told electrical contractors gathered in Philadelphia that his economic policies would translate into more jobs for their ranks as he highlighted a new trade deal among the U.S., Mexico and Canada.
Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton literally laughed out loud when she was asked about Kavanaugh’s assertion that the allegations against him were “revenge on behalf of the Clintons”.
The GOP lawmakers claimed that Democratic members of Congress “placed political expediency above the wishes” of Ford.
Democrats are also questioning Kavanaugh’s honesty, particularly over statements he made about his drinking in high school and college.
“Have you ever given tips or advice to somebody who was looking to take a polygraph test?”
Indeed, one of the notable exchanges between Kavanaugh and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., “Have you?”
Ford was specifically asked about her experience with lie detector tests at her hearing and about an alleged fear of flying that almost prevented her from making it to Washington.
“They know Judge Kavanaugh will follow the Constitution as written”, Trump said.
So far, no Democrat has announced support for Kavanaugh and no Republican has declared opposition to him.
“They drink beer and go insane and they were in high school”.
Kavanaugh would replace Anthony Kennedy, who he once served as a law clerk, on the top court.
The votes of the three aforementioned Republicans and those of red-state Democrats Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, will largely determine whether Kavanaugh is confirmed.
“He’s on trial for his life, so is his spouse, so are his parents, so are his kids, and he got mad”.
He said they carried on a long distance relationship while she was living in Hawaii that ended when he found out she’d been unfaithful to him. “I think that’s the height of hypocrisy”.
The FBI may wrap up its investigation into misconduct accusations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh as early as Wednesday, Fox News reported, citing a source close to the matter. “It’s not like I want to protect my friend”, Trump said.
“I would tell him, ‘Knock it off, you’re not helping, ‘” Graham said, before making a freakish reference to Juanita Broaddrick and Kathleen Willey, the women who accused former President Bill Clinton of sexual abuse. He says senators will not be intimidated by the protesters opposed to Kavanaugh who have been confronting them in the hallways of the Capitol, at airports and at their homes. With Republicans defending majorities in the House and Senate next month, officials cast Trump’s visit as an attempt to get ahead of a potentially perilous situation. I don’t know. But I had one beer.
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Conway, as Trump did Tuesday night, highlighted Ford’s “memory lapses” and “factual inconsistencies”. “We don’t want a Supreme Court whose credibility is in doubt”.
