Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) predicted Wednesday during Supreme Court Justice nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing that at least four or five vulnerable red-state Senate Democrats will vote to confirm Kavanaugh.
“You’re probably going to get 55 votes, 54 to 56, or 57. I don’t know what the number will be,” Sen. Graham said.
“There are eleven undecided senators before the hearing, three of them are Republicans,” Graham continued. “I like our chances, eight of them are Democrat, you can play with five or six of them.”
Sen. Graham predicted that at least four or five senators red-state Democrats such as Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV), Joe Donnelly (D-IN), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Jon Tester (D-MT), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Doug Jones (D-AL) will vote to confirm Kavanagh.
An Axios-SurveyMonkey poll released in July found that three of these senators—Nelson, Donnelly, and Heitkamp—trail behind their Republican challengers. An August poll found that Montana state auditor Matt Rosendale leads against Sen. Tester.
A survey conducted by Rasmussen Reports released on Tuesday suggested that 69 percent of Americans believe that the Senate will confirm Karnaugh for the Supreme Court. A Morning Consult poll released last week showed tepid support for Sen. Jones, which according to Alabama’s Democratic Party chairman, puts him “between a rock and a hard place” ahead of Kavanaugh’s confirmation vote.
Breitbart News reported on Tuesday, “Given the broad support of the Kavanaugh nomination, these 10 Red State Democrats face the potential of significant local backlash at the polls if they continue to tacitly support the obstructionist tactics of their Democrat colleagues on the Senate Judiciary Committee.”
The South Carolina senator then decried the Democrat-backed protesters during Tuesday’s hearing, suggesting that in a more civil era he would receive 90 votes for the Supreme Court.
“I just want you and your family to know that in other times someone like you would probably get 90 votes,” Sen. Graham said.
Graham also chastised leftist protesters that led Judge Kavanaugh’s wife, Ashley, taking their two daughters out of the hearing, as it got too “hot.” Margaret is 13, while Kavanaugh’s other daughter, Elizabeth is 10.
“It was very unpleasant for young children,” one insider said.
“I want your daughters to know what happened yesterday is unique to the times we live in,” Sen. Graham said.
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