Sen. John Kennedy (R., La.) said Sunday the confirmation process for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has been "an intergalactic freak show."
Kavanaugh was nominated this summer by President Donald Trump to succeed retired Justice Anthony Kennedy, and liberal opposition to confirming him has been fierce. The hearing itself saw hundreds of shouting protesters and a flurry of interruptions and stunts by Democratic senators, all of which Kennedy found disappointing.
"I'm fairly confident that our Founding Fathers did not intend the process to work this way. So far it's pretty much been an intergalactic freak show.," Kennedy said.
He credited Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) with keeping some modicum of order, but the interruptions and violations of committee rules rankled the Louisiana senator.
"The only thing missing I think was the genitalia-shaped headgear," he said, in reference to feminist protesters. "There were wild accusations about Kavanaugh that he's evil and he hates women, he hates children, he hates little warm puppies."
He went on to address the controversy that’s arisen since the hearing concluded, which is Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D., Calif.) confidential letter from a woman alleging Kavanaugh forced himself on her when they were both in high school. Sunday afternoon, after Kennedy's interview, the accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, came forward publicly for the first time.
Kennedy noted that Kavanaugh himself has denied the allegation Feinstein made public. He said he was offended by how the letter was sprung onto them as the process comes to a close.
"[Most Americans] are thinking that Congress has hit rock bottom and started to dig," Kennedy said. "I have been embarrassed by the whole process and frankly, no disrespect to Senator Feinstein or to Stanford Law School, but I'm a little bit offended. I sit on Judiciary Committee. They had this stuff for three months. If they were serious about it, they should have told us about it."
UPDATED 2:59 p.m.: This story has been updated to include the accuser coming forward.