President Donald Trump is “pleased” with the stunningly unprofessional, angry, antagonistic, combative, and disrespectful performance Judge Brett Kavanaugh delivered for hours Thursday afternoon. This is Kavanaugh’s second hearing, which will effectively determine if his U.S. Supreme Court candidacy is still viable.
If President Trump has anything to say abut it, it is alive and well.
“Trump and his advisers are quite pleased with Kavanaugh’s forceful and animated defense and believe it could be enough to win him Senate confirmation,” the Washington Post’s White House Bureau Chief Philip Rucker said on Twitter. “One senior WH official rated Kavanaugh’s performance: ‘Four stars.'”
Judge Kavanaugh has attacked Democrats on the Judiciary Committee, both en masse and individually. He has called the allegations against him a “joke” and a “farce.” He has lied under oath. He has shouted. He has cut off Senators asking him questions – and even asked one Senator after she shared her 90-year old father is a recovering alcoholic if she herself has a drinking problem. (He later apologized.)
That’s just for starters.
President Trump is not the only one pleased with Judge Kavanaugh’s irregular and rude behavior.
ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl reports that Senate Republicans are ready to stand by Kavanaugh after his antics.
“All indications are this is Republicans to battle stations,” He says on ABC News. “My sense, from those who I’ve spoken close to McConnell and Republican leadership, is that they think Kavanaugh may have saved this with his response to the charges here, and that they will fight for him.”
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins:
UPDATE:
CNN Crime and Justice Reporter: