Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) said Monday that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh deserves a “right to clear himself” at the upcoming Senate hearing about the allegation of sexual assault made by professor Christine Blasey Ford.
“All this is extremely serious and we take it very serious, but again these are allegations that are made and they have to come forth and prove their statements and he has a right to clear himself,” Manchin said.
Manchin represents a red state and is someone Democrats must keep in line to have any hope of sinking Kavanaugh’s confirmation. As things stand, they will already need two Republicans to cross the aisle, a big ask. Manchin voted to confirm Supreme Court justice Neil Gorsuch.
Watch below:
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) September 25, 2018
Joe is running on the ACA and against that law suit that Kavanaugh would very likely support. He’s voting ‘no’.
@khyber900 It’s smart of Manchin to run on the ACA. Do you have a link that shows Manchin stated he would vote no to Kavanaugh’s confirmation?
He is uncommitted. But if you look at how McCaskill framed her ‘no’ vote, Manchin will do something similar. He looks out for his people and he knows Kavanaugh is hostile to the ACA. Also, he has credibility because he voted for Gorsuch and can easily say that Gorsuch doesn’t have the baggage. It’s not about philosophy, it’s about the morality/ethics.
We haven’t even heard the details of the worst allegations yet.
I have confidence that Avenatti has some aces to show.
I hope you’re right.