President Donald Trump on Tuesday asserted that “bad people” were working to undermine the confirmation process for the Supreme Court justice he nominated, Brett Kavanaugh.
On the White House lawn Tuesday afternoon, CNN’s Jim Acosta asked the President to clarify the comments he made Monday, in which he claimed Kavanaugh, who was accused of sexual assault and misconduct during his confirmation process, faced “a disgraceful situation, brought about by people that are evil.” Kavanaugh has denied the allegations.
“I’m not gonna say who I mean. I’m just saying you had forces saying things that were evil. They were bad people and he is a very, very fine man. And what was said about him should never have been said,” Trump said.
Acosta followed up, asking: “But should we say that about our fellow Americans?”
“I know fellow Americans that are evil,” Trump said. “Are you saying that we shouldn’t say that a fellow American is evil? I’ve known some fellow Americans that are pretty evil.”
The President had at one point been conciliatory toward Christine Blasey Ford, who testified before Congress alleging that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her. At the time of the testimony, Trump called Ford a “good witness” and said he respected her position very much.
However, when Kavanaugh faced a supplemental FBI background check into the allegations last week, the President changed his tone, mocking her testimony while speaking to a crowd of supporters.
Kavanaugh was officially sworn in on Saturday and on Tuesday, he took the bench for his first term on the Supreme Court.
CNN’s Allie Malloy, Kate Sullivan and Bonney Kapp contributed to this report.
