The president defends his Supreme Court nominee over claims that he sexually assaulted Christine Blasey Ford when they were both in high school during the early 1980s.
President Donald Trump again cast doubt on the sexual-assault accusation against his second Supreme Court nominee, federal appellate Judge Brett Kavanaugh, this time during an interview with political ally and Fox News personality Sean Hannity.
«You say, why didn’t somebody call the FBI 36 years ago?» the president told Hannity on Thursday in Las Vegas, where Trump also held a campaign rally. «I mean, you could also say, when did this all happen? What’s going on?»
(Had a complaint been filed when the alleged assault happened, local police rather than the FBI would have investigated.)
Trump was also quick to say Kavanaugh’s accuser, California researcher and professor Christine Blasey Ford, should «have her say, and let’s see how it all works out.»
Trump had said earlier this week that it was «very hard for me to imagine something happened.»
The president’s comments came after Ford’s attorneys told the Republican-led Senate Judiciary Committee, which oversees Supreme Court confirmations, that their client would want to testify about her allegations next Thursday, albeit under certain conditions. Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley had scheduled a hearing for Monday, but Ford’s attorneys said that wouldn’t give the woman enough time to prepare.
Meanwhile, a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows that public opposition to Kavanaugh’s nomination has surged following the nominee’s confirmation hearings earlier this month and the revelation of the accusations. A plurality of voters now oppose Kavanaugh, according to the survey, which is in line with findings from other recent polls.
Ford, 51, came forward with her accusations in an interview with The Washington Post that was published Sunday. She claims that when she was about 15, Kavanaugh, then about 17, sexually assaulted her during a drunken gathering of high school students. The judge has denied the accusations. Ford also said that Mark Judge, a conservative writer who was a friend of Kavanaugh’s at the time, was also in the room. Judge has said he has no memory of such an occurrence.
Ford wrote a letter detailing her allegation that was received by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, in late July, but it was not publicly reported until mid-September.
Republicans had been on track to confirm Kavanaugh, 53, in time for the Supreme Court’s next term, which starts Oct. 1. The GOP has a narrow 51-49 majority in the Senate, and two defections could sink the judge’s nomination.
While GOP senators have been careful to say they want to hear Ford tell her story, they have also been itching to move the process along. Trump echoed that desire Thursday night.
«I don’t think you can delay it any longer,» Trump told Hannity.
Read the note Ford’s attorneys sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee, obtained by NBC News:
