President Donald Trump dismissed on Monday the idea that his Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh would withdraw his nomination after a woman accused him of sexual harassment over 30 years ago.
“What a ridiculous question,” Trump replied when asked by reporters at the White House about whether his nominee would withdraw.
But the president appeared willing to work something out with Democrats to get a “full process” and “hear everybody out.”
“I’d like to see a complete process. I’d like everybody to be very happy,” he said. “Most importantly I want the American people to be happy because they’re getting somebody that is great.”
Trump expressed skepticism about the timing of the allegation which Democrats knew in the Summer, specifically criticizing Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
“I wish the Democrats could have done this a lot sooner because they had this information for many months,” he said. “And they shouldn’t have waited til literally the last days.”
Trump denied speaking to Kavanaugh on Monday despite the nominee spending most of the day at the White House, according to reports.
White House officials are approaching the situation with sensitivity, despite Kavanaugh’s unequivocal denial of the accusations.
“I have never done anything like what the accuser describes—to her or to anyone,” he said in a statement. “Because this never happened, I had no idea who was making this accusation until she identified herself yesterday.”
White House Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway suggested that the woman and Kavanaugh should speak to Senate Judiciary Committee about the accusations.
“She should not be insulted. She should not be ignored,” she told reporters at the White House on Monday morning. “She should testify under oath and she should do it on Capitol Hill…and Judge Kavanaugh should also testify as to these 36-year-old allegations.”