Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) says he never once considered pressing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh to withdraw from the Senate confirmation process amid the firestorm over allegations of sexual misconduct.
McConnell said in an interview with The Hill on Saturday that it never crossed his mind to urge President Trump’s embattled nominee to withdraw, saying he instead told GOP colleagues that he was intent on having a floor vote.
Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee said that McConnell quashed any talk of Kavanaugh withdrawing when they met in his office on Sept. 18, days after Christine Blasey Ford accused the nominee of sexual assault.
McConnell acknowledged that confirming Kavanaugh “ended up being a lot harder than the Gorsuch nomination,” referring to Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, Trump’s first nominee to the high court whom the Senate confirmed last year.
But the GOP leader said he was intent on pressing ahead, even when some in his conference wavered amid angry protests on Capitol Hill and the additional allegations from two women who came forward days after Ford.
“I never felt this nomination should be withdrawn at any point. When your reputation is in tatters as a result of unsubstantiated accusations, I thought in fairness to Judge Kavanaugh he was entitled to a vote,” McConnell told The Hill.
“There was never any real serious consideration given to withdrawing,” he said. – READ MORE
[divider][/divider]Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is hailing Saturday’s expected confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court as a major boost to Senate Republican candidates in next month’s midterm elections.
McConnell told The Hill he spoke with his top political advisers on Friday, who said the bitter fight over Kavanaugh, and what he has called a “shameless smear campaign” by Democrats, has revved up the GOP base in red states.
“I talked to a couple of my political advisers yesterday and this has been a shot in the arm for us going into the fall election because it underscores the importance of the Senate and our role in personnel, and of course the most important personnel decisions we make are the courts, and particularly the Supreme Court,” McConnell said in an interview Saturday.
“Our base is on fire,” he said, while predicting that expected votes against Kavanaugh by Democratic Sens. Joe Donnelly (Ind.), Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.), Claire McCaskill (Mo.) and Jon Tester (Mont.) will come back to bite them next month when they are up for reelection in states won by President Trump in 2016.
“I’m doubly upbeat after this Supreme Court fight, which has been like a shot of adrenaline in our campaigns,” he said. – READ MORE
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