Graham: Trump should re-nominate Kavanaugh if his nomination fails

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Monday said President Trump should re-nominate Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court if his nomination fails in the Senate in the wake of multiple sexual assault allegations brought against him.

“Here’s what I would tell the president: I would appeal the verdict of the Senate to the ballot box,” Graham said during an appearance on “Hannity” on Monday night. 

“This good man should not be destroyed. If you legitimize this process by one vote short, we’ll be on to the next person,” Graham continued. “I’d hate to be the next person nominated. I would feel horrible that we destroyed Kavanaugh.”

“So what would I do?” the South Carolina Republican asked. “I would re-nominate him and I would take this case to the American people and I’d ask voters in Indiana, in Missouri, in North Dakota and other places where Trump won – saying who he would nominate if he got to be president – and see if the voters want to appeal the verdict of their senator.”

{mosads}”I would appeal the case to the American people,” Graham said.

However, Graham added that he doesn’t think the judge’s nomination will reach that point and that he believes concerns from Republican senators who were undecided on how to vote on Kavanaugh following multiple allegations of sexual misconduct should be resolved after the FBI concludes its probe into the allegations.

“I don’t think we’re going to find anything new from this supplemental FBI investigation to take Jeff from yes to no,” he said.

“I think Senator Murkowski (Alaska) and Senator Collins (Maine) want to make sure the FBI did their homework to check the committee’s work, that our work was good,” he continued, referring to two undecided GOP votes. “I think that’s what this is all about.”

Graham’s remarks arrive as Kavanaugh continues to face controversy surrounding sexual assault allegations from multiple accusers.

Last week, Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, a college professor who has accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee about the allegations.

Ford testified that during the alleged incident she thought Kavanaugh might accidentally kill her when she says he put his hand over her mouth and pinned down her to a bed while groping her in the summer of 1982.

Kavanaugh denied Ford’s allegations, saying during his own testimony before the panel that he did not doubt that Ford had experienced a traumatic event but that he has “never sexually assaulted anyone.”

He also denied several other allegations of misconduct stemming from his time in high school and college that have been leveled against him this month. 

Last Friday, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination after Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) secured a deal to delay a floor vote on the nomination for a week to allow for the FBI to investigate the sexual assault allegations against him.