WASHINGTON — President Trump said on Wednesday that the accusations against Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, his Supreme Court nominee, “are all false,” but also said that he “can always be convinced” after watching the testimony of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused the judge of attempted rape.
In a rambling and combative news conference during which he lashed out against Democratic senators, Mr. Trump said that his own opinion about Judge Kavanaugh’s case is affected by the many allegations of sexual misconduct that have been leveled against him by women in the past.
“It does impact my opinion. You know why? Because I’ve had a lot of false charges made against me,” Mr. Trump said. “People want fame, they want money, they want whatever. So when I see it, I view it differently than someone sitting at home watching television.”
Speaking in New York, where he was attending the United Nations General Assembly, Mr. Trump repeatedly refused to give a direct answer to whether he thought the three women who have accused Judge Kavanaugh of misconduct are liars.
He initially said that “these are all false — to me — false accusations, in certain cases.” But pressed a few minutes later, he said that “I’m going to see what happens tomorrow.”
“I’m going to be watching, you know, believe it or not,” he said. “It’s possible they will be convincing.”
“They are going to have a big shot at speaking or making their case, and you know what, I could be persuaded,” the president said.
At the same time, he added that Democrats had orchestrated “a big fat con job” by engineering the accusations against Judge Kavanaugh, and Mr. Trump predicted that when Democratic senators are behind closed doors, “I guarantee you, they laugh like hell.”