Kavanaugh defender, Trump regrets #MeToo is "very dangerous" for powerful men

"I have had a lot of false accusations against me, false accusations," he added. "I know friends who have had false accusations. People want glory. They want money. They want no matter what. So when I see him, I see him differently from someone who watches television at home, where he says, "Judge Kavanaugh, this or that." This has happened to me many times.

On the eve of the likely Senate hearing on Thursday, which will likely determine whether Kavanaugh is confirmed in the high court, Trump himself named himself as the trial's leading witness and committed to one of the most more serious of his presidency.

The president said he was with Kavanaugh, but he also left open the possibility of withdrawing his candidacy if he was convinced of the judge's guilt after seeing Thursday's testimony of him and his first accuser, Christine Blasey Ford .

Some of the first loopholes appeared in the White House on Wednesday, when a third woman came forward – alleging sexual misconduct against other people by Kavanaugh in high school – and fears of see the candidacy decrease. But there was also a firmer determination to move forward when attorney Michael Avenatti – who represents accuser Trump Stormy Daniels and plays with a 2020 presidential race – has entered the race on Wednesday depicting Kavanaugh's last accuser.

Trump, his advisers and his allies expressed real concern over the hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. Aids has struggled to mobilize surrogates – especially high school friends and other women who know Kavanaugh personally – to cover the airwaves that defend the character of the judge.

The President acknowledged the uncertainty about how the hearing was going to unfold and how Kavanaugh might be perceived, and he began to blame the Republican leaders of the Senate if the bid failed. .

With so much in limbo, there was no other strategy at stake than Trump's call for a more energetic Kavanaugh defense. The president and his associates concluded that they had a shorter period of time to push Kavanaugh before his appointment was even more tainted.

Trump is facing both his own personal grievances with the #MeToo judgment and his responsibilities as a Republican Party leader, whose majorities in Congress are at risk in six weeks in the midterm elections. Aides said Trump felt politically convinced of the issue because he was elected despite the "Access Hollywood" recording in which he boasted of having caught women by their genitals.

According to the strategists of both parties, either outcome of Kavanaugh's fight is expected to have a significant impact on the upcoming elections and the next two years of Trump's presidency. Kavanaugh's confirmation could help inspire more Republicans to vote in November, but it could also motivate Democrats and alienate some GOP voters for years to come. A failed nomination, on the other hand, could deeply divide the Republican coalition and suppress voter turnout.

While Trump was answering a series of questions at the Wednesday press conference on Kavanaugh and sexual assault, a veteran Republican lawmaker called on the Washington Post to question whether a White House aide could dislodge the president. Senate Majority Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) worried Wednesday night about the many ways events could escalate on Thursday.

Vice President Pence visited Capitol Hill Wednesday to reassure Senate Republicans at their regular in-camera luncheon. The vice president reaffirmed his support and that of the president to Kavanaugh, saying he was convinced that it would be "a respectful and fair process" for all actors and criticizing the Democrats for their "shameful" behavior, according to a senior official. the White House.

"We are with the candidate," said Pence to the senators, according to the official.

For Kavanaugh, who has spent the day with White House lawyer Donald McGahn and other advisers, there is strong pressure to improve his performance in an interview with Fox News Channel earlier this week. The judge told the White House advisers that he would answer any questions that would be put to him at Thursday's hearing, even those who are incredibly personal, according to officials involved in the preparations.

Kavanaugh has received mixed reviews for his Fox interview – including Trump, who told his staff that he thought the judge was deemed weak, unconvincing and not sufficiently indignant, according to people who had spoken to him.

The president, who has been closely following media coverage and comments on cable from his New York headquarters, where he attends the United Nations General Assembly, wondered whether Kavanaugh should have even gone to the polls. interview, advisers said.

Trump wants to see the judge with a more combative attitude, according to aides, and said he was ready to fight for Kavanaugh as long as the judge would be willing to fight for himself.

Matt Schlapp, President of the American Conservative Union, said, "My advice is to cast the scripts, talk with the heart, respond openly and be proud of the man you are and the life you have lived. . There is no American who does not look at this situation and who realizes that girls become women and that boys become men and, in this way, you have many experiences and you make many decisions .

Kavanaugh, through White House middlemen, was invited to defend himself on television from the moment the New Yorker issued accusations of a second wife, Deborah Ramirez, on Sunday night. Senate Republicans have begun to convey to the White House that the situation has gone from the poor crisis to the "red alert crisis," as one Republican advisor in contact with Senators has described. of the GOP.

Instead of simply issuing statements and points of discussion, Senate Republicans insisted that Kavanaugh should clarify their whereabouts and help his own cause, the councilor said.

Trump initially wanted Kavanaugh to appear on television and defend himself – an unusual strategy for a Supreme Court nominee – and aides envisioned having him run a wider media campaign.

According to two people familiar with planning, there were days of discussion about whether Kavanaugh should appear on the Fox News site, a conservative network, or a more general national broadcast network.

CBS News veteran correspondent Jan Crawford, who has written books on the Supreme Court and interviewed several judges in camera, has been considered by the main assistants of the White House as a possible option. But after lengthy discussions with Kavanaugh, Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum was chosen, mainly because of the judge's comfort level, according to people who requested anonymity because they were not allowed to publicly reveal their deliberations.

"Fox was the safest bet," said a counselor.

Kavanaugh was well aware that Trump and others felt that he had to be more energetic with his denials than during his interview with Fox, so he issued a statement on Wednesday calling the Avenatti customer's allegations "of Twilight Zone. according to someone familiar with the writing of it.

On Tuesday, Trump told councilors he was tired of seeing Kavanaugh headlines, according to people who had spoken to him.

Thus, on Wednesday, the president took over the defense of Kavanaugh, the defendant during multiple appearances before journalists at the United Nations. In recent days, councilors said the president was complaining bitterly that McConnell's president and Senate president Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) had "fooled themselves" by accepting democratic demands to SLOW DOWN .

"They could have passed it two and a half weeks ago, and you would not talk about it right away – which I honestly would have preferred," Trump told the press on Wednesday. "But they did not do it."