GOP/NOMINATION/SENATE/SUPREME COURT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “As the Senate prepares for Thursday’s [9-27-18] blockbuster hearing to decide the fate of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, a key player has been missing from efforts to lobby undecided GOP senators — President Donald Trump. More than a dozen Republican senators said in interviews Tuesday [9-25-18] that they haven’t heard anything from Trump —and they think that’s just fine. John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 3 Senate Republican, said he was ‘not aware’ of any personal outreach to senators who are undecided on Kavanaugh…That’s not to say that Trump hasn’t been following the Kavanaugh drama closely, as evidenced by his public statements and Twitter feed. In statements on Monday [9-24-18] night and Tuesday, Trump blasted Christine Blasey Ford and Deborah Ramirez — who have accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct in high school and college, respectively. GOP leaders do not believe those statements have been particularly helpful. During a Tuesday appearance at the United Nations General Assembly with Colombian President Iván Duque Márquez, Trump launched into a defense of Kavanaugh and called the allegations against him ‘unsubstantiated.’”
–John Bresnahan, Burgess Everett and Eliana Johnson, “Trump stays away from Senate Kavanaugh fight,” Politico, September 25, 2018 7:21 pm