Exclusive — Mike Braun Slams Joe Donnelly in Indiana for Supreme Double Standard: His ‘Obstruction Here Speaks Volumes’

The Associated Press
The Associated Press

The campaign of businessman and GOP U.S. Senate nominee Mike Braun is lighting up Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-IN), a red state Democrat up for re-election in Indiana, for a double standard when it comes to Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

Specifically, Braun’s campaign is pointing to the fact that Donnelly has still refused to meet with Kavanaugh at all since President Donald Trump nominated him–even though he did previously meet with Neil Gorsuch, President Trump’s first nominee to the Supreme Court–despite a pledge from Donnelly reported on by NBC News that he would treat Kavanaugh the same as he did Gorsuch.

“Senator Donnelly promised to use the Gorsuch approach to evaluate Brett Kavanaugh, and today he has broken his word. It only took 15 days for Donnelly to meet with Neil Gorsuch, yet 15 days into Kavanaugh’s nomination he still won’t meet with President Trump’s highly qualified nominee,” Braun spokesman Josh Kelley said in a release provided to Breitbart News ahead of its public release on Tuesday morning. “Hoosiers know that action speaks louder than words, and Donnelly’s obstruction here speaks volumes about his loyalty to the Democrat Party.”

Braun’s campaign is right: Donnelly has not followed the same standard he applied to Gorsuch as promised.

“I will take the same approach as I have previously for a Supreme Court vacancy,” Donnelly said after Trump nominated Kavanaugh. “Following the president’s announcement, I will carefully review and consider the record and qualifications of Judge Brett Kavanaugh.”

Despite this pledge from Sen. Donnelly, he has yet to meet with Kavanaugh–a standard practice for senators from both parties considering nominees for the U.S. Supreme Court. It’s a double standard, too, of Donnelly’s own making because he did meet with Gorsuch within 15 days of his nomination for the high court.

President Trump nominated Gorsuch on Jan. 31, 2017, and 15 days later–on Feb. 14, 2017–Donnelly met with him.

This year, though, Donnelly seems to be slow-walking any meeting with Kavanaugh–and has not followed the standard he promised to follow. President Trump nominated Kavanaugh for the high court on July 9, 2018, and Tuesday marks day 15 since President Trump rolled Kavanaugh out at the White House as his selection. Donnelly, as of this publication, has yet to schedule any meeting with Kavanaugh. In fact, Donnelly’s office confirmed to local Evansville Courier and Press newspaper that Kavanaugh “has not as yet scheduled a meeting with Donnelly.”

The local newspaper noted that while Indiana’s Republican Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) is very likely to vote for Kavanaugh and has already met with him, Donnelly “is more of a question mark.”

That is likely to hurt Donnelly seriously back home in Indiana, as the longer he drags this out the worse it gets for him on the campaign trail. That’s why Braun, the GOP nominee for U.S. Senate, is out ripping Donnelly in a new release shredding the red state Democrat for this double standard and refusal thus far to meet with Kavanaugh.

New polling released on Monday by North Star Opinion Research found that a strong majority in Indiana–52 percent–believe that Kavanaugh should be confirmed. Only 34 percent think Kavanaugh should not be confirmed to the Supreme Court.

Moreover, new ads hit the airwaves in Indiana on Monday funded by the Judicial Crisis Network (JCN) backing up Kavanaugh and calling out Donnelly:

Similar ads and polling data shows many other red states–like North Dakota and West Virginia–with Democrats up for re-election are in for a wild ride on the Kavanaugh Supreme Court confirmation battle as well.

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