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Kavanaugh Finale

On Saturday, Oct. 7, Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed to the Supreme Court and was sworn in by Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Kennedy. This vote came after the FBI finished their investigation of the sexual assault allegations that were presented in front of the Senate earlier that week. Before the investigation was finished, the votes were still up in the air for some Republicans, who were waiting to see what the investigation found. For others, the investigation would not have changed their vote much, either way.

The investigation was finished and presented on Friday and the vote was scheduled for Saturday, but there was still not a final count of the votes. One voice that stood above the other senators was that of Senator Susan Collins (R-ME). She stated that she would vote yes for Kavanaugh and gave an hour-long speech about why she made the controversial decision. In her speech, Collins talked about how Dr. Ford’s testimony was very moving, but lacked corroborating evidence, leading Collins to believe that Kavanaugh did not commit the assault. Collins also mentioned the #MeToo movement and said that even though, in this instance, she did not believe the woman, the movement was still “real” and senators and the nation should continue to listen to victims in future cases.

On Monday, Oct. 8, Brett Kavanaugh was sworn in by the President as the newest Associate Justice of the Supreme Court in the “official” ceremony, as it was labeled by Trump. All the sitting justices were at the ceremony along with all the big-name Republicans, including Mitch McConnell, who entered the room to roaring applause. Normally, the newest justice is sworn in by the Chief Justice, and the retiring justice when applicable, but Trump decided that such a ceremony would not suffice. Since most people are active on Saturdays, especially on a holiday weekend, Trump decided to schedule Kavanaugh’s “official” swearing in on Monday night, when most families are expected to be watching their TVs and staying at home. Sources claim that this was not only because Trump is a former TV star and loves a big event, but that he also wanted to make the finale a beautiful ceremony accompanied by family, so that the final image of Kavanaugh would be of a noble family man serving his country, rather than the image imposed on him in the prior weeks. 

Trump claimed that the confirmation protesters were actually paid crisis actors. The person supposedly paying them is known crisis actor employer, George Soros. Trump, in some of his tweets, almost sounded as if he felt bad for the actors, saying they obviously “had not gotten their most recent paychecks,” because they were acting so unprofessionally in the elevators and during the vote. Take this information as you may, but it is very interesting to see that the sitting president might honestly believe that people do not feel genuinely upset about Kavanaugh’s confirmation.

Photo credit: Associated Press