Trump rejects ‘messed up’ Kavanaugh attack accuser

Washington: President Donald Trump dismissed the latest accuser of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh as “drunk” and “messed up”, as Republicans prepared for a potentially explosive hearing over his suitability.

Despite the controversy over the nomination, the Senate Judiciary Committee scheduled a preliminary vote for tomorrow morning. If approved by the panel, Kavanaugh will still face a vote in the full Senate.

Trump rejected a claim by Deborah Ramirez that Kavanaugh had dropped his pants and thrust his penis in her face at an alcohol-fuelled Yale University dorm party about 35 years ago.

He said Democratic support for her allegations, as well as those of Christine Blasey Ford, amounted to a “con game” to defeat a person he said was perfectly qualified to serve on the Supreme Court bench.

“The second accuser has nothing. She thinks maybe it could have been him, maybe not,” Trump said.

“She admits she was drunk. She admits that there are time lapses. Thirty-six years ago, no one knew or heard about it. Now a new charge comes up and she said it might not be him, and there were gaps and she said she was totally inebriated, and she was all messed up.

“The Democrats are playing a con game. It’s a shame that you can do this to a person’s life,” he added.

His comments came two days before the Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing in which Blasey Ford will detail her claim that Kavanaugh tried to tear her clothes off in an assault at a party in 1982.

The charge has delayed approval of his nomination, which Republicans hope will turn the court sharply to the right, with implications for laws on abortion rights and affirmative action programmes.