NOMINATION/SUPREME COURT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “President Donald Trump, a teetotaler who says he’s never even had a beer, finds himself in the awkward position of fiercely defending a Supreme Court nominee under harsh scrutiny for his past heavy drinking. The more Trump embraces his embattled nominee and publicly comments on accounts that Brett Kavanaugh drank to excess, the starker the contrast becomes — shedding light on what Trump on Monday called ‘one of my only good traits.’ Speaking to reporters at the White House on Tuesday, Trump denied that he was bothered by reports of Kavanaugh’s past drinking habits, which several former classmates have described as excessive…In booze-soaked Washington, where senators, lobbyists and White House staffers regularly drink stiff cocktails in wood-paneled downtown bars, Trump’s abstinence is a rarity — and a quality his aides are acutely aware of.”
–Andrew Restuccia, “Kavanaugh’s drinking spotlights Trump’s ‘abnormal’ abstinence,” Politico, October 2, 2018 9:50 pm