McConnell says Kavanaugh fight will help Republicans in November

Sen. Susan Collins defended her support for newly confirmed Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and said she found no corroborating evidence for Christine Blasey Ford’s accusations of sexual assault.

Wilson’s congressman says he’s “extremely disappointed” in the Senate’s confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh as the United States’ 114th Supreme Court justice.

Trump invited reporters travelling with him to watch the final vote in his private office aboard Air Force One, then delivered a thumbs up from his desk as the confirmation was made official. Like Trump or not, goes the Republican argument, this is bigger than the president, this is about the party. Garland wasn’t granted a hearing or a vote.

Host Dana Bash pressed Collins, adding that Ford had testified that she was “100 percent” certain that Kavanaugh was the person who assaulted her.

While Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Kavanaugh’s confirmation was a shining moment for the GOP heading into next month’s pivotal elections, GOP Gov. John Kasich of OH predicted “a good year” for Democrats and said he wonders about “the soul of our country” in the long term after the tumultuous hearings. Dozens were arrested as they and others chanted “Vote them out!” and “No justice, no seat!”

Democrats have always faced a hard Senate map – six of the competitive seats that they hold are in states Trump won, and five of those states he carried by at least 19 points – but their path now is more treacherous.

“You mean women like Senator Collins?”

Trump told a raucous rally in Kansas late on Saturday that the confirmation marked “a tremendous victory for our nation, our people and our beloved Constitution”. But independent court analysts say Kavanaugh is likely to lean toward more conservative rulings, giving the court’s four-member conservative bloc a 5-4 edge over the court’s four liberals. Kavanaugh’s defense of himself was partisan beyond any precedent for a Supreme Court nominee.

The reaction to Saturday’s historic decision, unsurprisingly, varied by Democrat or Republican.

Kavanaugh’s confirmation process has laid bare the partisan gridlock on Capitol Hill and the political polarization of America just a month before midterm elections.

Several polls show that Republican enthusiasm about voting, which had lagged behind, jumped after the Kavanaugh hearing last week. They could vote for Kavanaugh, but risk the wrath of the progressive grassroots and loss of access to key Democratic campaign financing.

At the White House, press secretary Sarah Sanders reacted with jubilation.

Kavanaugh continues to deny the sexual assault and misconduct allegations and was sworn in as a Supreme Court justice on Saturday.

The choice of Kavanaugh to replace retired justice Anthony Kennedy was controversial from the start – but the initial focus was exclusively on the conservative views held by the married father of two.

Besides the accusations of sexual misconduct, another issue – abortion rights – mobilised the opposition to Kavanaugh.

Asked about the #MeToo movement and her husband’s recent comments about its potential impact on men, first lady Melania Trump weighed in on Kavanaugh’s controversial nomination.

Throughout the day, Trump also kept his focus on the opposition, saying Kavanaugh had withstood a “horrible, awful attack” that “nobody should have to go through”.