Trump slams Democrats as power-hungry obstructionists
President Trump takes Democrats to task for slowing Kavanaugh appointment.
President Trump at a Mississippi rally on Tuesday defended his embattled Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh while questioning the sexual assault allegations made by accuser Christine Blasey Ford.
Trump claimed that Ford's one concrete recollection was, "I had one beer!"
He then portrayed the back-and-forth between Ford and her interviewers. "'How did you get home?' 'I don't remember.' 'How did you get there?' 'I don't remember.' 'Where is the place?' 'I don't remember.' 'How many years ago was it?' 'I don't know.'" The crowd cheered and applauded.
He also accused the Democratic party of only knowing how to "obstruct, resist, demolish, destroy and delay" and claimed that the party had been "trying to destroy Judge Kavanaugh" since he was first announced as a Supreme Court nominee.
"Because they know Judge Kavanaugh will follow the Constitution as written," he said.
The president took aim at a number of Democrats in particular, including Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal and California Sen. Dianne Feinstein before mentioning "sleaze bag lawyer," Michael Avenatti, who is representing one of Kavanaugh's accusers, Julie Swetnick.
Swetnick, in a sworn statement last month, claimed she had seen Kavanaugh “engage in abusive and physically aggressive behavior toward girls” including “grinding” against young women and attempting to remove their clothes in the early '80s. She also claimed she “became aware of efforts by [friend] Mark Judge, Brett Kavanaugh and others to ‘spike’ the ‘punch’ at house parties” with drugs or alcohol to lower girls’ defenses and get them disoriented so they could be “gang raped” in a side room by a “train” of boys.
During the rally, Trump seemingly criticized Swetnick over an interview she did with NBC News in which she appeared to walk back some of the claims about Kavanaugh.
"Did you see that interview? This woman had no clue what was going on, no clue. And yet she made the most horrible charges against a number one in his class at Yale, perfect human being, great father, great husband – this is a great person," Trump said. "And people are saying, ‘Well maybe it’s true. And because of the fact that maybe it’s true, he should not become a United States Supreme Court justice.’ How horrible is this? How horrible is this?"
Trump went on to add that he wanted "to do what's right for this country," before urging people to go to the polls and vote for Republican candidates.
"The Democratic Party has become too extreme. This is an example of it. And too dangerous to be trusted with power," Trump said. "That is why you must vote Republican on Election Day. And you have to go out and vote."
The president was in Mississippi campaigning for Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, who is up against multiple opponents in the Nov. 6 special election. She was tapped earlier this year to temporarily fill the seat following Sen. Thad Cochran’s retirement and she told Fox News that her campaign message will not change, despite the competition.
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“I’ve been on the ballot five times. I’ve been a conservative my entire life. And I’ve ran state-wide two times and so, you know our strategy is just basically compounding the message we’ve always put out there,” she said. “I share the conservative values of all the Mississippians, or most of the Mississippians there. We’re running on our record. We’re running on the fact that Gov. Phil Bryant made me as the choice for the appointment. And then it’s really nice to have the president side-by-side in this campaign.”
Trump’s visit to Mississippi follows an earlier stop in Philadelphia in Tuesday, where he delivered a speech to the National Electrical Contractors Association Convention.
He told the crowd that the country was having “a manufacturing renaissance” and that his economic policies would equate to more jobs.
Fox News' Adam Shaw and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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