President Trump said Tuesday that Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh is being treated unfairly because he acknowledges drinking beer as a teenager.
“It’s a very scary time for young men in America, when you can be guilty of something you may not be guilty of,” Mr. Trump told reporters at the White House. “You can be somebody who was perfect your entire life, and somebody could accuse you of something … and you’re automatically guilty. I think he’s been very brutally treated.”
The FBI is investigating claims by Christine Blasey Ford that Judge Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were teens in the early 1980s; she said he had been drinking heavily at the time. Judge Kavanaugh denies he assaulted Ms. Blasey Ford and acknowledged that he liked to drink beer as a teen.
The Senate is expected to vote on his nomination by the end of this week.
Asked if he had a message for young women, the president said “women are doing great.”
Mr. Trump said the nominee’s fate “will be dependent on what comes back from the FBI.”
“I think that Judge Kavanaugh’s doing pretty well, it seems to me, over the last 24 hours,” the president said. “I think he was fighting people that were making very tough charges against him, and I though the did very well. He’s fighting very hard for his reputation, for his family. It was tough stuff. He’s a high-quality person. … a top intellect.”
The president said it’s “very important” for people to consider “what he’s done over the last 30 years. He has been a tremendous success.”
“I don’t see anything wrong” with Judge Kavanaugh’s behavior as a teen, the president said.
“I don’t drink. I never had a drink. I just didn’t choose not to do that. I was abnormal. Almost everybody else did,” Mr. Trump said.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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