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MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle Compares Politics of Merrick Garland Nomination to Democrats, Kavanaugh

September 24, 2018

MSNBCs Stephanie Ruhle on Monday said if Democrats are stalling the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh for political reasons, they're repeating the tactics employed by Republicans after President Barack Obama nominated Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court.

"[Conservative] Matt Schlapp ... said on Twitter that 'Republicans don't do this to Democrats.' They absolutely do. Think back to Merrick Garland," Ruhle said during a discussion about Kavanaugh's nomination.

Kavanaugh, who was nominated to fill the seat vacated by retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy, has been accused of sexual misconduct by Christine Blasey Ford while they were in high school and Deborah Ramirez while they were students at Yale. Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, and others have argued Kavanaugh has been deemed guilty until proven innocent and that Democrats have taken advantage of the allegations because they support their previously held opposition to the nominee.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) and the GOP declined to give Merrick Garland a hearing when Obama nominated him to fill Justice Antonin Scalia's seat on the Supreme Court in 2016, citing the "Biden rule" of not appointing Supreme Court justices during a presidential election year.

"Are Democrats playing dirty?" Ruhle asked, "If they are, is it justified since Mitch McConnell set the dirty table and won?"

Upon taking office in January 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Judge Neil Gorsuch for the position and he was confirmed without delay.

MSNBC political contributor Jason Johnson defended Democrats' opposition to Kavanaugh, which was readily apparent prior to Ford's allegations being made public this month.

"This didn't happen to Gorsuch because he didn't have this background," Johnson said.

Kavanaugh has roundly denied the accusations and Trump has called the accusations "completely political."

"There's a chance that this could be one of the single most unfair, unjust things to happen to a candidate for anything," Trump said on Monday.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) received a letter in July detailing Ford's allegations that Kavanaugh groped her at a party 36 years ago, but she held the information until after Kavanaugh's hearing had closed, citing respect for anonymity of the accuser.

Feinstein and others in Congress have called for an FBI investigation of the allegations made against Kavanaugh. Currently, Kavanaugh and Ford are set to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, though there have been calls to delay this hearing due to the new allegations from Ramirez, which were published in the New Yorker late Sunday night.

"No one deserves to have their lives ruined ... More questions and more answers would certainly help things out," Ruhle said.