‘Tremendous Victory’: Trump Celebrates Kavanaugh Win

President Donald Trump at a Kansas rally celebrated the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, condemning Democrats for what he called a “shameless campaign of political and personal destruction” against his nominee.

To cheers of supporters at the Kansas Expocentre in Topeka, Trump declared it an “historic night,” not long after signing the paperwork to make Kavanaugh’s status official.

“I stand before you today on the heels of a tremendous victory for our nation,” he said to roars, thanking Republican senators for refusing to back down “in the face of the Democrats’ shameless campaign of political and personal destruction.”

Kavanaugh was sworn in as a justice Saturday evening in Washington after an extraordinarily fraught nomination that sparked angry protests, nail-biting votes and a national reckoning about who should be believed. Nearly all Senate Democrats voted against his confirmation.

The final vote took place Saturday afternoon as the president was flying to Kansas aboard Air Force One, and he invited traveling reporters to his private office to watch the climactic roll call, which was interrupted several times by protesters in the Senate galleries before Capitol Police removed them.

When it was official, Trump delivered a double thumbs-up from his desk. Several aides applauded.

“Very, very good,” Trump said. “Very happy about it. Great decision. I very much appreciate those 50 great votes and I think he’s going to go down as a totally brilliant Supreme Court Justice for many years.”

Throughout the day, Trump kept his focus on the opposition, saying Kavanaugh had withstood a “horrible, horrible attack” that “nobody should have to go through.”

He continued lashing out at Democrats when he rallied supporters in Topeka, telling them “radical Democrats” have become “an angry, left-wing mob” and “too dangerous and too extreme to govern.” He urged Kansas voters to send Republicans to Congress.

“You don’t hand matches to an arsonist and you don’t give power to an angry left-wing mob. And that’s what they’ve become,” he said.

Kavanaugh’s nomination sparked protest across the Capitol, which continued Saturday. When the vote was over, hundreds of protesters massed on the Supreme Court steps, chanting, “We believe survivors.”

Trump was in Kansas to campaign for Kris Kobach, secretary of state and the Republican nominee for governor, and Steve Watkins, the GOP nominee in the 2nd Congressional District of eastern Kansas. Retiring Republican Rep. Lynn Jenkins holds the seat, and Democrats hope to flip it. Both joined him on stage at the Expocentre to speak.

Trump has been holding rallies across the country as he tries to boost Republican turnout in November’s midterm elections, which will determine which party will control the House and Senate during the second half of Trump’s term.

He said Saturday he thinks Republicans “are going to do incredibly well” in the elections after Kavanaugh’s confirmation.

“I think we have a momentum that hasn’t been seen in years,” he said.