President Trump said Tuesday that he empathizes with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh because they’ve both been hit with “false accusations.”
Mr. Trump said he was accustomed to the abuse but that Mr. Kavanaugh was being destroyed.
“False accusations — I’ve had so many. It’s in my job description,” the president said at a campaign rally in Southaven, Mississippi. “If it is me they can say whatever they want.”
The remarks coincided with the White House forcefully pushing back against a New York Times report accusing the president and his family of decades-old tax fraud schemes.
“It’s sad to witness this misleading attack against the Trump family by the failing New York Times. Many decades ago the IRS reviewed and signed off on these transactions,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement just moments before Mr. Trump took the stage in Mississippi.
Mr. Trump has made Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation a rallying cry to get Republicans to the polls in November.
Judge Kavanaugh was hit with a series of allegations of sexual misconduct dating to high school and college that put the brakes on his confirmation, though Senate Republicans say they plan to have the vote this week.
“They are destroying him and destroying his reputation and we can’t let that happen,” Mr. Trump said of the attack on the judge, drawing cheers from the crowd.
Under pressure, the White House last week ordered the FBI to reopen a background check of the judge after California psychologist and university professor Christine Blasey Ford publicly claimed that he forced himself on her at a high school party when she was 15 and he was 17.
Every witness she named said they could not corroborate her story.
Deborah Ramirez, who accused Judge Kavanaugh of possibly exposing himself to her when they were freshmen at Yale University, admitted she couldn’t be sure it was him.
Julie Swetnick, who accused Judge Kavanaugh of possible involvement in her gang rape at a high school party, backed off the claim in an NBC News interview.
Mr. Trump said he was pushing forward with the nomination because it’s the right thing to do for the country.
“I don’t even know him,” said Mr. Trump. “It’s not like I want to protect my friend.”
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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