Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell took to the Senate floor to decry what he claims is a Democrat-led conspiracy to torpedo Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination in the wake of sexual assault allegations.
“Now, [an] accusation of 36-year-old misconduct dating back to high school has been brought forward at the last minute in an irregular manner. It is an accusation which Judge Kavanaugh has completely and unequivocally denied,” McConnell said, adding:
“This is what he [Kavanaugh] said: ‘This is a completely false allegation. I’ve never done anything like what the accuser describes to her or to anyone.’
It is an accusation which the ranking member of the Committee for Jurisdiction [Dianne Feinstein] has known about for at least six weeks. Known about for six weeks––yet chose to keep secret until the 11th hour.”
.@SenateMajLdr McConnell is on the Senate floor making a case that the Kavanaugh allegation is the result of a conspiracy hatched by Democrats who are just looking to derail his nomination pic.twitter.com/ZneoZwurY5
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 17, 2018
McConnell proceeded to further criticize the way Democrats have handled the allegations, saying they never raised the allegations even with accuser Christine Blasey Ford’s name redacted:
“They did not raise it in the thousand plus follow-up questions that senators sent to Judge Kavanaugh in writing. But now, at the 11th hour, with committee votes on schedule, after Democrats have spent weeks and weeks searching for any possible reason that the nomination should be delayed, now they choose to introduce this allegation.”
McConnell’s claim that the way Democrats are handling the allegation is an “irregular” departure from the traditional process of confirming Supreme Court nominees opened him up to criticism immediately.
Liberal opponents have opposed the nomination, citing a precedent set by McConnell, who infamously refused to hold hearings for Merrick Garland, President Barack Obama’s nomination for the high court. At the time, McConnell claimed that the Senate should not confirm Supreme Court nominees during an election year, though he could cite no rules to support this assertion, and accusations that his decision was informed, at least in part, by racial animus toward Obama have dogged him ever since.
I will resume listening to process complaints from Mitch McConnell on the day Merrick Garland sits on the Supreme Court. https://t.co/V2uhicl19Z
— Nathan Murphy (@SeattleNathan) September 17, 2018
I can’t. Mitch McConnell, you had a legitimate President (Obama) exercising his constitutional right to nominate a SCOTUS during his elected term and YOU and these other sloths disregarded all “standard bi-partisan process” and “regular order”. https://t.co/Ie6kji1c8S
— M Lowe Ok (@MLoweOK) September 17, 2018
Excuse me? https://t.co/lh39BZoWEU
— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) September 17, 2018
Alexa…
Order 1,000 leaf GARLANDS and send them to Mitch McConnell at 317 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510. https://t.co/AF1ULv3R2u— Kaz Weida (@kazweida) September 17, 2018
Mitch McConnell says the sexual assault accusation against Kavanaugh was brought forth in an “irregular manner.” So I suppose denying Merrick Garland a hearing & threatening to keep the SCOTUS seat open for an entire administration if Hillary had won was totally “regular manner?” pic.twitter.com/aHW609lkof
— Kimber Lofgren (@KimberLofgren) September 17, 2018
In July, McConnell was similarly rebuked after he urged his fellow senators to see beyond the far-left fear mongering before evaluating President Donald Trump’s eventual Supreme Court nominee “fairly.”
Americans see beyond the far-left fear mongering. Senators should do the same. We should evaluate @POTUS’s nominee fairly, based on their qualifications. And we should treat this process with the respect and the dignity that it deserves. #SCOTUSNomination
— Leader McConnell (@SenateMajLdr) July 9, 2018
The facts were not lost on many who responded to McConnell’s message and charged him with hypocrisy, with some quoting the following tweet, in which McConnell said the American people should have a voice in choosing the next Supreme Court justice before the Senate could start confirmation hearings.
As said by someone who stole a Supreme Court appointment from President Obama. Mr. McConnell, you deserve the same thing that you have been dishing out for years. Please don’t speak for the American people – you only represent a small segment of the population.
— Lizmo (@Lizmo56) July 10, 2018
You in 2016: “The American people deserve to have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice.”
Us in 2018: “The American people deserve to have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice.”
You set the precedent. Live by your own words.
— Liz Prager O’Brien (@LPOB65) July 10, 2018
Giving Merrick Garland a hearing would have been a fair way to evaluate him, but you refused.
— jordan (@JordanUhl) July 9, 2018
Complicating matters for McConnell: Several Republican lawmakers have gone on record saying that the Senate must postpone its vote on Kavanaugh until after Ford testifies.
