President Donald Trump Monday called inappropriate sexual behavior charges against U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh “totally political” in his most definitive statement yet, dismissing the claims brought forward by two women, CNN reported.
The president brushed off the claims while traveling to the United Nations building in New York City to take part in the UN General Assembly.
“And for people to come out of the woodwork from 36 years ago and 30 years ago and never mentioned it and all of a sudden it happens, in my opinion it’s totally political,” Trump said, according to CNN . “It’s totally political.”
Trump was referring to Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Deborah Ramirez, two women who have charged Kavanaugh with inappropriate behavior that they claim took place decades ago. Ford claimed — earlier this month — that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a house party held in the 1980s, while the pair attended high school.
In a new allegation Sunday, The New Yorker wrote that Ramirez claimed that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her during a dorm party at Yale, the school that they both attended at the time. The women charged that alcohol was involved in both cases.
Both women have also called for the FBI to investigate the charges. CNN reports that Ford is scheduled to testify about her experience with Kavanaugh during an opening hearing in front of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday.
Kavanaugh, who pushed back against Ford’s claims, did the same in a statement about The New Yorker article.
“This alleged event from 35 years ago did not happen,” Kavanaugh said in a statement, according to CNN . “The people who knew me then know that this did not happen, and have said so. This is a smear, plain and simple. I look forward to testifying on Thursday about the truth, and defending my good name — and the reputation for character and integrity I have spent a lifetime building — against these last-minute allegations.”
White House representative Kerri Kupec repeated the “smear campaign” charge, saying that it has been led by Democrats seeking a delay or outright destruction of Kavanaugh’s nomination.
“This claim is denied by all who were said to be present and is wholly inconsistent with what many women and men who knew Judge Kavanaugh at the time in college say,” Kupec said in the statement, CNN added. “The White House stands firmly behind Judge Kavanaugh.”
Trump went after Ford, professor at Palo Alto University, in Twitter posts. He claimed that if the incident happened, that the teenagers would have reported it to law enforcement. He went on claim that Ford’s allegation was being pushed by the “radical left.”
I have no doubt that, if the attack on Dr. Ford was as bad as she says, charges would have been immediately filed with local Law Enforcement Authorities by either her or her loving parents. I ask that she bring those filings forward so that we can learn date, time, and place!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 21, 2018
The radical left lawyers want the FBI to get involved NOW. Why didn’t someone call the FBI 36 years ago?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 21, 2018