Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is holding a press conference following the Senate’s successful confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court on Saturday. McConnell on Sunday told CBS’ “Face the Nation” that the vote in favor of Kavanaugh showed the Senate “will not be intimidated” by what he called the “mob-like tactics” of protesters and Democrats on Capitol Hill opposed to Kavanaugh.
McConnell also reiterated his view that the fight over Kavanaugh’s confirmation has re-energized the Republican base ahead of next month’s midterm elections.
“Ironically the behavior of Democrats on Senate Judiciary Committee and then the overreach of the protests at the Capitol have actually energized the Republican base, particularly in the red states where we’re trying to pick up seats across America,” McConnell said. “So I want to thank the other side for the tactics that have allowed us to kind of energize and get involved our own voters.”
Throughout the confirmation process, the leader has been slammed for pushing ahead with Kavanaugh’s nomination during a contentious election year — a tactic he was opposed to during the previous nomination process of Judge Merrick Garland. McConnell told CBS that he simply followed Senate historical precedent, while on “Fox News Sunday” he didn’t rule out confirming another Supreme Court justice during a presidential election year.
“We’ll see if there’s a vacancy in 2020,” he said.
McConnell is speaking from his home state of Kentucky as the House and Senate are away from Washington for the Columbus Day holiday.
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