Sen. Cory Booker (D., N.J.) said Tuesday that "whether he is innocent or guilty," it is time to "move on" from Brett Kavanaugh to another Supreme Court nominee.
"Ultimately – not whether he is innocent or guilty, this is not a trial – have enough questions have been raised that we should not move on to another candidate?" Booker asked, before saying, "Move on to another candidate."
Booker, speaking during a press conference on Capitol Hill, said "partisan rancor" aside, Kavanaugh is not the right person for the Supreme Court.
"So my hope is," he said, "beyond the vicious partisan rancor that is going on, beyond the accusations, we don't lose sight of what this moral moment is about in this country. And ultimately, we ask ourselves the question, is this the right person to sit on the highest court in the land for a lifetime appointment?"
Booker went on to reference classmates that have come forward to say Kavanaugh liked to drink and Kavanaugh's own defense of himself, which the senator didn't find to be exculpatory, before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Kavanaugh has denied all allegations of sexual misconduct against him, calling them "last minute smears" in an attempt to stall his confirmation further.
According to Booker, "[Kavanaugh's] credibility has been challenged by intimates, by people who knew the candidate well as a classmate."
"Move on to another candidate," Booker said, "because ultimately the Supreme Court is not an entitlement ... This is a sacred institution. The people that should be on it, whether you disagree with their political or judicial philosophy at all, the people who should be on the Supreme Court, should preserve the integrity of the court and be beyond the reproach of these difficult partisan times."
Booker opposed Kavanaugh's nomination long before any accusations of sexual misconduct arose. In the days following Kavanaugh's nomination, back in July, Booker appeared at a press conference with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass), where he said that supporting Kavanaugh was equivalent to being complicity in "evil."
"I’m here to call on folks to understand that in a moral moment, there is no neutral," Booker said.
"In a moral moment, there is no bystanders," he said. You are either complicit in the evil, you are either contributing to the wrong, or you are fighting against it."