MSNBC' Mika Brzezinski battered Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) for overlooking Brett Kavanaugh's angry, partisan tone during his self-serving testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The Louisiana Republican complained that President Donald Trump's nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court had been treated so unfairly that the founders might not have fought the American Revolution if they'd known what would eventually happen to Kavanaugh.
"It's gotten so bad at times, if our founders had envisioned this, some might have voted to stick with King George," Kennedy said. "I mean it's just a mess."
Brzezinski then cornered the senator and asked whether Kavanaugh had met his own stated standards for a judge with his overtly partisan testimony -- and Kennedy insisted the nominee had.
"In my opinion, yes," Kennedy said. "If you consider the circumstances, what he said is absolutely right. I know federal judges. You do, too."
Brzezinski pointed to Kavanaugh's testimony that he was the victim of a retribution conspiracy by the Clintons, and she said he was "kind of a jerk" to Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN).
"I don't think I saw the same thing you did," she said. "I saw someone who failed at every standard that he laid out there."
Kennedy justified the nominee's behavior.
"Well, I think again you have to consider the context," Kennedy said. "He had been called once again, some call it a character assassination. I know some people think it's accurate, I don't. They called him a liar, they called him a drunk, they called him rich. They called him a sexual predator. It affected -- as it did Dr. Ford's -- his family, his parents, his reputation, and the man responded."
Kennedy said he believes Kavanaugh did not sexually assault Christine Blasey Ford, but he would not say whether an FBI background check showed the California professor had falsely accused the nominee.
"I'm not going to say," Kennedy said. "I think he -- well, let me put it another way. I trust the American people to make their own decisions and conclusions. I've reached mine. I don't think Judge Kavanaugh did it. I'm not saying Dr. Ford and (Deborah) Ramirez aren't telling the truth. I don't know them."
