Trump: Kavanaugh is ‘going to make us all very proud’

President Trump voiced his confidence in Brett Kavanaugh on Saturday shortly before the Senate was poised to confirm him to the Supreme Court.

“I think he’s going to make us all very proud,” Trump told reporters before leaving Washington for a rally in Kansas on Saturday evening.

“I think he is going to be a great, great Supreme Court justice for many years.”

Trump acknowledged the bitter months-long Senate confirmation process for Kavanaugh, including partisan brawling this week over a supplemental FBI investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct against the nominee.

{mosads}”I also feel very strongly that, in the end, the process, it was really unattractive, but the extra week was something that I think was really good,” Trump said Saturday.

He also offered praise for Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), whose support for Kavanaugh that she announced on Friday secured him enough votes for confirmation.

“I thought that Susan was incredible yesterday. You could see how hard she worked, how hard she was working, she didn’t stop,” the president said. 

He praised her “impassioned, beautiful speech,” saying it “was from the heart.”

Trump wrote in a tweet shortly after the Senate voted 50-48 on Saturday afternoon to confirm Kavanaugh that the nominee would be sworn in later in the day.

I applaud and congratulate the U.S. Senate for confirming our GREAT NOMINEE, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, to the United States Supreme Court. Later today, I will sign his Commission of Appointment, and he will be officially sworn in. Very exciting!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 6, 2018

Kavanaugh’s confirmation gives Trump and Republicans a major win a month before the midterm elections.

Trump nominated Kavanaugh in early July to replace the retired Justice Anthony Kennedy, a perennial swing vote on the court.

Collins addressed the Senate in a roughly 45-minute speech on Friday decrying the atmosphere of partisanship that overshadowed Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings, stating that the evidence behind allegations of sexual assault leveled against him was not strong enough to sway her vote.

“This debate is complicated further by the fact that the Senate confirmation process is not a trial … but certain fundamental legal principles about due process, the presumption of innocence and fairness do bear on my thinking and I cannot abandon them,” she said in her speech.

The Maine senator was seen as a crucial pickup for Democrats hoping to stop Kavanaugh’s nomination, as the party would need at least two Republicans to defect and vote “no” to be successful.

In the end, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski was the only Republican who came out against Kavanaugh’s confirmation.

Updated: 4:35 p.m.