President Donald Trump defended Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s testimony regarding alcohol consumption before the Senate Judiciary Committee during a Monday impromptu press conference in the White House rose garden.
Kavanaugh has been accused of lying about drinking to excess while in high school and college. Trump noted during his press conference that he interpreted Kavanaugh’s comments as admitting “he did have difficulty as a young man with drinking.”
A former associate of Kavanaugh at Yale University came forward to accuse the Judge of mischaracterizing his alleged tendency to drink to excess in college and occasionally engage in raucous behavior.
Trump questioned why there was no discussion of Kavanuagh’s alleged drinking record over the past 25–30 years of his career. He repeatedly referenced Kavanaugh’s dedication to his work and studies in school as evidence that he picked an extraordinarily qualified person for the Supreme Court.
Trump jokingly noted his own habit of not consuming alcohol noting that it was “one of his only good traits.” The president continued that he himself had observed students in high school drinking beer and “going crazy” but questioned whether such behavior should preclude them from assuming higher positions later in life.