Trump accuses Democrats of running ‘con game’ against Kavanaugh

UNITED NATIONS — U.S. President Donald Trump accused Democrats on Tuesday of orchestrating “a con game” against Judge Brett Kavanaugh in hopes of stopping his confirmation to the Supreme Court and said that one of two women who have accused him of sexual misconduct as a student was “messed up” and “drunk” at the time.

Dispensing again with the restraint that advisers have urged him to exercise, Trump went beyond defending Kavanaugh into attack mode, saying that Democrats were “making him into something he’s not” as part of a strategy to “delay and obstruct” his confirmation.

“I think it’s horrible what the Democrats have done. It is a con game; they really are con artists,” he said while in New York for the annual session of the U.N. General Assembly. “They don’t believe it themselves. They know he’s a high-quality person. They don’t believe it. It is just resist and obstruct. They are playing a con game and they are playing it very well, much better than Republicans.”

He went on to call it a con game a couple more times, and then spelled it out, “C-O-N.”

Trump singled out the latest accuser, Deborah Ramirez, who said in an interview with The New Yorker that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her during a drinking party while they were students at Yale University.

“She was totally inebriated and all messed up and she doesn’t know,” Trump said. “It might have been him or it might have been him.” Then, speaking sarcastically, he added, “Gee, let’s not make him a Supreme Court judge.”

Asked if Ramirez should be allowed to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Trump questioned her reliability again: “She thinks maybe it could have been him, maybe not. Admits she was drunk. She admits time lapses. This is a person, and this is a series of statements that is going to take one of the most talented intellects from a judicial standpoint in our country, keep him off the U.S. Supreme Court?”

The president said he watched Kavanaugh’s interview with Fox News on Monday and suggested that he thought the nominee had been honest but not necessarily sure-footed.

“He was so truthful,” Trump said. “This isn’t his footing,” he added. “He’s never been here before. He’s never had any charges like this, charges come up from 36 years ago that are totally unsubstantiated.”