In a press conference after a day of meetings at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, President Donald Trump vehemently defended his Supreme Court pick Brett Kavanaugh, but said that he could change his mind and withdraw his nomination after hearing Kavanaugh’s accusers’ stories and testimony.
“They’re giving the women a major chance to speak. Now it’s possible I’ll hear that and say hey I’m changing my mind. Hey, that’s possible,” Trump said. “If I thought he was guilty of something like this, sure.”
Kavanaugh and his accuser, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, are set to answer questions regarding her allegations and offer testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee in a much-anticipated political moment that could make or break Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court.
President Trump on whether there’s a possible situation in which he would withdraw the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh: “If I thought he was guilty of something like this, yeah, sure.”
“I want to watch, I want to see,” Trump adds about tomorrow’s hearing https://t.co/H9Yha41RJr pic.twitter.com/X8mwMUktZB
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) September 26, 2018
According to ABC News, Trump said that he plans to tune into the Senate hearing.
“It’s possible they will be convincing,” Trump said during his solo news conference.
In the past two weeks, three separate women have come forward with accusations against the Supreme Court nominee, with the third woman stepping forward with new allegations less than 24 hours before the scheduled hearing.
The president rejected any suggestion that he order an FBI investigation into the sexual assault and misconduct allegations against Kavanaugh, USA Today reports.
“Here there was nothing to investigate,” Trump said. “They didn’t know the location, year. They didn’t know anything,” Trump added, apparently referring to Ford, Kavanaugh’s first accuser, who alleged that the Supreme Court nominee sexually assaulted her when they were both in high school.
“It’s not going to change the Democrats’ minds. They destroyed a man’s reputation and they want to do more,” Trump said, defending his nominee.
The president admitted that, referring to the #MeToo movement, this was a “big moment for our country” but said it’s “because you have a man who is very outstanding but he has very strong charges against him probably charges that nobody is going to be able to prove.”
“Always I heard you are innocent until proven guilty,” Trump said. “I have heard this for so long, and it is such a beautiful phrase. In this case, you are guilty until proven innocent. I think that is a very, very dangerous standard for our country. With that being said, I look forward to what she has to say. I also look very forward to what Judge Kavanaugh has to say. I think it is going to be a very, very important day in the history of our country,” Trump continued, referring to the Senate hearing scheduled for Thursday.
Trump added that he wished Kavanaugh’s accusers had reported their allegations years before.
“It’s a very tough situation for a woman. There’s no questions about it,” the president said. “And in some case, they do report it. Frankly, had they reported it, it would have been pretty amazing, wouldn’t it? But I guess they didn’t. And that’s okay. I’m not saying they had to report it. Because it’s a very personal thing. It’s a very big problem. There’s no question about it.”
At one point during the press conference, Trump appeared to sympathize with his Supreme Couty nominee, saying that his years as a reality television star and as a Manhattan real estate mogul he faced numerous allegations himself.
“I’m a very famous person, unfortunately. I’ve been a famous person for a long time but I’ve had a lot of sales charges made against me, really false,” Trump remarked. “People want fame. They want money. They want whatever.”
When asked whether he thought that Kavanaugh’s accusers were lying, Trump said, “I won’t get into that game. I only tell you this. This is one of the highest quality people that I have ever met. And everybody that knows him says the same thing. And these are all false, to me. These are false accusations in certain cases, and certain cases even the media agrees with that.”
When asked again by reporters, the president said that he would “have to watch tomorrow. I have to read.”