MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle said "we're ... going after" Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on Tuesday in what seemed to be a moment of candor about the media's aggressive stance on his confirmation process.
White House correspondent Peter Alexander reported on Ruhle's MSNBC morning program that the White House is confident Kavanaugh will be confirmed, although it remains anxious other allegations could potentially derail his confirmation process. Kavanaugh has denied uncorroborated allegations of sexual misconduct, including an assault accusation, from his teenage years.
Ruhle noted after Alexander's report that, from the White House's perspective, it was at least a positive that the Robert Mueller Russia investigation was out of the news cycle.
"No one is talking about Robert Mueller, not for the past week, and so that is a win for President Trump," Ruhle said. "Think about what I just said: 'that is a win.' We're only going after his Supreme Court nominee."
While not considered a pundit or commentator by the network, Ruhle frequently injects her opinions into her broadcasting, such as mocking hunters who use silencers and blasting the Trump administration's proposed Space Force as "playing Space Cowboys."
News coverage of Kavanaugh in the past two weeks has delved into such details as the extent of his younger drinking habits and whether he was a virgin going into college as he claimed in a Fox News interview.
The New Yorker acknowledged in its own reporting on Deborah Ramirez, who accused Kavanaugh of exposing himself at a Yale dorm party, that it found no one to directly corroborate her account. There was also a USA Today column suggesting he should no longer coach girls' basketball following the accusations against him.