Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Phil Bredesen says he would support Brett Kavanaugh's nomination for the U.S. Supreme Court, a key choice in Tennessee's tight race.
Bredesen issued a statement Friday morning, as the Senate voted 51 to 49 to move forward with President Trump's nominee -- clearing a major hurdle for Kavanaugh's confirmation to the high court. A final vote could come as early as Saturday.
"I believe a Senator’s responsibility to ‘advise and consent’ is not a license to indulge in partisanship, but should focus on the qualifications of the nominee, their ethics and their temperament," he said. "I believed that Judge Kavanaugh initially met this test, and I was prepared to say ‘yes’ to his nomination prior to Dr. Ford’s coming forward. While the subsequent events make it a much closer call, and I am missing key pieces of information that a sitting Senator has, I’m still a ‘yes.’"
Bredsen also called Dr. Christine Blasey Ford a “heroine” who has “brought forcefully into the national conversation the many barriers women face in reporting and dealing with sexual harassment and assault.”
The former Tennessee governor had faced some backlash in recent weeks after declining to say how he would vote on Kavanaugh. Bredesen is in a tough contest against Republican U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn.
Read his statement in-full below:
“Presidents have the right to appoint justices who share their values–elections have consequences. I believe a Senator’s responsibility to ‘advise and consent’ is not a license to indulge in partisanship, but should focus on the qualifications of the nominee, their ethics and their temperament.
I believed that Judge Kavanaugh initially met this test, and I was prepared to say ‘yes’ to his nomination prior to Dr. Ford’s coming forward. While the subsequent events make it a much closer call, and I am missing key pieces of information that a sitting Senator has, I’m still a ‘yes.’
Dr. Ford is a heroine, and has brought forcefully into the national conversation the many barriers women face in reporting and dealing with sexual harassment and assault. I was disgusted by the treatment she received at the hands of the Senate and am determined to help bring about a fairer and far more respectful treatment of these issues.”
