According to a new book, Donald Trump has been “very disappointed” in Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, whom he successfully nominated to the nation’s highest court in 2018, Axios reports.
The former president told journalist Michael Wolff that Kavanaugh “hasn’t had the courage you need to be a great justice” in an interview for Wolff’s Landslide: The Final Days of the Trump Presidency.
Trump stood by Kavanaugh after the latter was accused by psychologist Christine Blasey Ford of sexually assaulting her when they were both high school students. Kavanaugh was eventually confirmed by the Senate, and some of his votes on the court so far have disappointed conservatives.
“I had plenty of time to pick somebody else,” Trump told Wolff. “I went through that thing and fought like hell for Kavanaugh—and I saved his life, and I saved his career. At great expense to myself, okay? I fought for that guy and kept him.”
Trump’s comments indicate that the former president thinks he rescued the reputation of Kavanaugh, who sat on the prestigious U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit before ascending to the Supreme Court.
“He wouldn’t even be in a law firm,” Trump said. “Who would have had him? Nobody. Totally disgraced. Only I saved him.”
Landslide was published by Henry Holt and Co. on Tuesday.
Michael Schaub is a Texas-based journalist and regular contributor to NPR.
