President Trump on Wednesday called Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh a “gem” and accused Democrats of playing a “con game” to scuttle his confirmation.
“He’s been treated very unfairly by the Democrats. It’s a con game. They know what they are doing. It’s a con,” Mr. Trump told reporters in New York, where he is participating in the U.N. General Assembly meeting.
He said Democrats were laughing about dirty tricks played on Mr. Kavanaugh, who has been accused of sexual misconduct when he was a teenager.
“They go into a back room, and they talk to each other, and then they laugh at what they are getting away with. It’s a con game, and that’s what they play, and that’s about the only thing they do well,” the president said.
Mr. Trump commended Senate Republicans for their respectful treatment of California psychologist and university professor Christine Blasey Ford, who is expected to testify Thursday about her claim that Judge Kavanaugh groped her at a high school party when she was 15 and he was 17.
Judge Kavanaugh, who vehemently denies the allegation, also is set to testify Thursday.
“The Republicans could not be nicer, could not be more respectful to the process, certainly could not be more respectful to the woman, and I’m OK with that,” Mr. Trump said.
He said that he might have pushed for a faster confirmation vote if he ran the Senate.
“They could have pushed it through two and a half weeks ago, and we wouldn’t be talking about it right now, which is frankly what I would have preferred. But they didn’t do that,” Mr. Trump said.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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