President Donald Trump said Tuesday he continues supporting Judge Brett Kavanaugh, despite an allegation from a woman who accused him of sexual assault over 30 years ago.
“I’m totally supportive, yes,” Trump said to reporters at the White House during a visit from the president of Poland. “I’m very supportive.”
The president said he wanted to move forward with the confirmation process, but acknowledged that they were willing to accept a delay so that both parties could voice their concerns.
“We are looking to get this done as quickly as possible,” Trump said. “This is a terrible thing that took place, and it’s frankly a terrible thing that this information was not given to us a long time ago.”
He criticized Democrats and Sen. Dianne Feinstein for “springing” the information about Kavanaugh right before his confirmation vote, even though they knew about it weeks ago.
“That’s what the Democrats do … it’s obstruct, it’s resist, it’s whatever you have to do,” Trump said.
Kavanaugh stated the allegations were false and that he was willing to testify to the Senate Judiciary Committee about the incident.
Trump called Kavanaugh an “incredible man” with “incredible intellect.”
He reminded reporters that the FBI already said that they would not investigate the allegations.
“I don’t think the FBI should be involved because they don’t want to be involved,” Trump said. “If they wanted to be, I would certainly do that, but as you know they say this is not really their thing.”
He also confirmed that he had not spoken to Kavanaugh since the allegation was made public over the weekend.
“Specifically, I thought it would be a good thing not to,” Trump said. “He can handle himself.”