President Donald Trump lavished praise on Republican Senator Susan Collins for her impassioned speech in defense of Judge Brett Kavanaugh, ahead of a vote on his nomination to the Supreme Court.
“I thought that Susan was incredible yesterday. You could see how hard she worked, how hard she was working, she didn’t stop. But I know for a fact because I spoke with her. She didn’t stop. And she gave an impassioned, beautiful speech yesterday and that was from the heart,” Trump said, according to the White House press pool.
Collins delivered a lengthy floor speech Friday afternoon outlining the reasoning behind her vote for Kavanaugh, despite decades old sexual assault allegations against him. Collins was seen as a wavering vote on Kavanaugh and was instrumental in calling for an FBI investigation into the allegations against the Judge.
Kavanaugh faced allegations from Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, a woman who alleged that he assaulted her in the summer of 1982 while they were both teenagers. Kavanaugh vehemently denied the allegations and both testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“I do not believe Brett Kavanaugh was her assailant,” Collins said Saturday ahead of the vote.