President Trump on Monday offered a full-throated defense of his Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in the face of new allegations of sexual misconduct, calling the claims “totally political.”
“He is a fine man with an unblemished past and these are highly unsubstantiated statements from people represented by lawyers,” the president said as he arrived at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. “Judge Kavanaugh is an outstanding person and I am with him all the way.”
He continued, “For people to come out of the woodwork from 36 years ago and 30 years ago and never mention it, all of a sudden it happens, in my opinion, it’s totally political. It’s totally political.”
On Sunday, The New Yorker reported that a Yale classmate of Kavanaugh’s claimed the nominee exposed himself to her at engaged in unwanted contact at a dormitory party 35 years ago.
Kavanaugh has denied the latest claim, saying the alleged incident “did not happen.”
“The people who knew me then know that this did not happen, and have said so. This is a smear, plain and simple,” he said in a statement issued by the White House Sunday night.
White House spokesperson Kerri Kupec said the accusation is part of a “coordinated smear campaign by the Democrats designed to tear down a good man.” She said the White House “stands firmly behind Judge Kavanaugh.”
Kavanaugh is set to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday following testimony from another accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, who claims Kavanaugh assaulted her during a high school party in the early 1980s.
Kavanaugh has adamantly denied the allegations leveled by Ford.
“I look forward to testifying on Thursday about the truth, and defending my good name–and the reputation for character and integrity I have spent a lifetime building–against these last-minute allegations,” he said Sunday night.
