Donald Trump: Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is 'one of the highest quality people'
The US president has again defended his nomination for the Supreme Court amid allegations from two women.
Tuesday 25 September 2018 19:33, UK
Donald Trump has again backed Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh over a claim of sexual assault, describing him as "one of the highest quality people".
Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the US president showered his controversial pick for the job with praise and accused Democrats of running a "con game" against him.
Mr Kavanaugh has repeatedly denied allegations that he molested Christine Blasey Ford at a school party in 1982, and that he exposed himself to Deborah Ramirez while at college.
He and his wife Ashley have even taken the unusual step of being interviewed by Fox News to defend himself, insisting he "always treated women with respect" and that he had been a virgin for "many years" after high school.
Mr Trump has previously cast doubt over the allegation by Dr Ford and reinforced his backing for the District of Columbia appeals judge at the UN summit in Manhattan on Tuesday.
"I think it's horrible what the Democrats have done - it's a con game, they really are con artists," he said.
"They don't believe it themselves. They know he's a high-quality person. It is just resist and obstruct. They are playing a con game and they are playing it very well, much better than Republicans.
"Democrats are trying to make him something he's not. He's never had any charges like this. It's a shame you can do this to a person's life (and it) would be a horrible insult to our country if this (the appointment) doesn't happen."
The president also dismissed the claim by Ms Ramirez, published in The New Yorker, telling reporters she "has nothing" against Mr Kavanaugh and that she had accused "a wonderful human being".
He added that he had watched the Fox News interview broadcast on Monday, which he said was "so truthful".
Protesters took to the streets in New York ahead of the UN summit to oppose the nomination of Mr Kavanaugh, with other demonstrations taking place across the country.
The #BelieveSurvivors rallies saw women stage walkouts at their places of work in solidarity with his accusers.
Amnesty International has called for a vote on the nomination to be stopped - but the intervention is not based on either of the allegations by Dr Ford and Ms Ramirez.
The organisation said the vote should be halted unless or until any information relevant to his possible involvement in human rights violations is "declassified and made public".
It said their stance was related to the possibility that Mr Kavanaugh was involved "in issues related to torture and rendition after 9/11", during his time working in the administration of George W Bush.
Margaret Huang, executive director of Amnesty International USA, said the organisation would not normally take a position on any government appointment "unless they are reasonably suspected of crimes under international law" and could use their appointment "to prevent accountability for these crimes or to continue perpetration".
She added that Amnesty was also concerned over his record on other human rights issues such as sexual and reproductive rights.