Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens told a crowd this week that Brett Kavanaugh is not the right nominee for the bench. Stevens, now 98 years old, retired from the Supreme Court in 2010. He was nominated by former President Gerald Ford and is a lifelong Republican.
Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, a lifelong Republican, told a small crowd in Boca Raton that Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s performance at confirmation hearings should disqualify him. “The Senators should pay attention to this.” pic.twitter.com/LdsJTuPGIx
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Stevens reflected on how there was a time he thought Kavanaugh had the qualifications to sit on the Supreme Court and should be confirmed.
"But, I've changed my views for reasons that have no relationship to his intellectual ability or his record as a federal judge," Stevens explained. "He’s a fine federal judge. But I think that his performance during the hearings caused me to change my mind."
Stevens said Kavanaugh exposed his political bias during that hearing. Indeed, Democratic senators were the target of much of his frustrated diatribe. He yelled at the senators and "angrily turned the pages" of his testimony, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) complained on the Senate floor Friday.
Kavanaugh "demonstrated a potential bias involving enough potential litigants before the (high) court that he would not be able to perform his full responsibilities," Stevens said.
"I think there's merit in that criticism, and that the senators should really pay attention to it for the good of the court," he added. "It's not healthy to get a new justice who can only do a par-time job."
Yet, Kavanaugh's supporters said he has every right to be angry at the Democrats on the panel, some of whom called him "evil" and accused him of being a rapist. He denies the allegations.
The Senate voted to end debate on Friday and hold a final vote on Kavanaugh's nomination on Saturday. Follow the Townhall live blog for frequent updates.