Trump is unleashed on the accuser Kavanaugh as a key Republican renouncement

"We will move forward; I am sure we will win, "he told reporters.

During the interview, Ms. Murkowski was not so scornful as the charges. "We are in a difficult place because the conversation is not rational on both sides," she said. She added, "Just look at some of the hateful things that are said there. How do you compose that in return?

"We need to be able to listen," she said, pledging to take Dr. Blasey seriously. "We have to listen to what she's going to say on the record, under oath and what Judge Kavanaugh is going to say on file, under oath."

When Dr. Blasey, a research psychologist in Northern California, came in an interview this month with The Washington Post, Ms. Murkowski and Ms. Collins have largely completed comprehensive career exams and legal writings of the judge the candidate just two days before. Both senators were particularly interested in Judge Kavanaugh's view of Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision of 1973 establishing a constitutional right to abortion, but privately, other Republicans thought that the judge

These opinions will continue to influence their decisions, said the two senators. Murkowski said Monday that Judge Kavanaugh had presented him with a powerful case about the importance of the precedent and the "trust of interest" it created.

"How he explained how he had been strengthened in so many different stages, I certainly have greater confidence in the way he described me how he perceives Roe," she said.

Ms. Collins, an institutional-minded centrist who carefully examines candidates for the judiciary, expressed similar views on Judge Kavanaugh and Roe and said she would look on Thursday with the same vigor.

"I did not make a decision and, of course, Thursday's hearing is important," Collins told reporters on Tuesday. She was concerned about Ms. Ramirez's accusation and suggested that the Judicial Committee examine her under oath as well as Dr. Blasey.

Given the explosive nature of the allegations, the decision of the Senate Judiciary Committee to hire an outside lawyer to interview Dr. Blasey was interpreted by Republicans as a way to preserve a certain sense of decorum. "We did it because we want to depoliticize the whole process, as the Democrats have politicized the thing of Anita Hill," said Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa and chairman of the committee .