Trump Says Something You'll Rarely Hear

The president speaks at ceremonial event for Brett Kavanaugh
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 8, 2018 7:40 PM CDT
Updated Oct 9, 2018 12:33 AM CDT
Trump to Kavanaugh: 'I'd Like to Apologize'
President Donald Trump, right, stands with Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, left, before a ceremonial swearing in in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, Oct. 8, 2018.   (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Trump doesn't apologize often, so mark the day: "On behalf of the nation, I'd like to apologize to Brett and the entire Kavanaugh family for the terrible pain and suffering you've been forced to endure," he said Monday at a White House ceremonial event to place Brett Kavanaugh on the US Supreme Court, per ABC News. "Those who stepped forward to serve our country deserve a fair and dignified evaluation. Not a campaign of political and personal destruction based on lies and deception." The president went on to say that "a man or a woman must always be presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. And with that, I must state that you, sir, under historic scrutiny, were proven innocent." For more:

  • Ford: Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey Ford still can't move back into her California home due to "unending" death threats, says her lawyer Debra Katz. "It's deplorable," Katz adds, per People. "It's been very frightening." It's also unclear whether Ford can go back to being a psychology professor at Palo Alto University, reports the Mercury News.
  • Ramirez: "Thirty-five years ago, the other students in the room chose to laugh and look the other way as sexual violence was perpetrated on me by Brett Kavanaugh,” said second Kavanaugh accuser Deborah Ramirez in a statement Saturday, per Time. "As I watch many of the senators speak and vote on the floor of the Senate I feel like I’m right back at Yale where half the room is laughing and looking the other way."
  • Swetnick: "As a sexual assault victim, I am disgusted and appalled by the way that I have been re-victimized over the last 2 weeks after I had the courage to come forward," writes third accuser Julie Swetnick in a statement tweeted by her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, per Business Insider. "I stated the truth in my sworn declaration and I stand by everything in it."

  • Online threat: A special-needs teacher in Rosemount, Minn., is on leave after posting on social media that someone should kill Kavanaugh, per the Pioneer Press. "So whose (sic) gonna take one for the team and kill Kavanaugh?" the post reads. The teacher hasn't been identified, but the FBI apparently knows about it.
  • Presidential power: Kavanaugh's influence on the Supreme Court could empower Trump to keep terror suspects behind bars indefinitely, legal experts tell the Washington Post. As a circuit court judge, Kavanaugh has consistently deferred to presidential power on issues of national security and war.
  • 2020 vacancy: "We'll see if there's a vacancy in 2020," Sen. Mitch McConnell said Sunday about whether he would consider a Supreme Court nominee in a presidential year, per CBS News. Asked if that means he should have considered Merrick Garland in 2016, McConnell said no, because the Senate was "of a different party than the president."
  • It's Scary: On the lighter side, Time reports that singer-songwriter Lynzy Lab has posted a ukelele-accompanied YouTube song called "It's a Scary Time"—apparently responding to Trump's statement that "It is a very scary time for young men in America." Lynzy Lab sings, "Yeah, it sure is a scary time for guys/Can't speak to any women or look them in the eyes/It's so confusing, is it rape or is it just being nice?"
(More President Trump stories.)

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