Kavanaugh’s fate will have a massive ripple effect. The president said he wanted to “see a complete process,” and other administration officials said Ford deserved a chance to be heard. “Aides quietly stunned by Trump’s respectful handling of Kavanaugh accuser,” CNN reported. Yet in the early days after Christine Blasey Ford made public her allegation that Kavanaugh attempted to rape her in 1982, the president didn’t say much. Trump is usually eager to get into any fight, and the Kavanaugh nomination was already an ugly one. By avoiding inserting himself in an incendiary way at first, the president likely helped get the outcome he wanted. Only as Kavanaugh’s confirmation seemed imminent did Trump resort to his typical offensive speech.
For example, the president publicly greenlit an FBI probe but secretly set limits that made sure it would be fast and shallow. Rather than going on the offensive, the White House allowed the allegations to play out within tightly circumscribed grounds. While the president has a tendency to lash out when he doesn’t get what he wants immediately, he approached allegations of sexual misconduct against his nominee with unusual calmness. The White House’s expected victory in getting Brett Kavanaugh confirmed to the Supreme Court is in part a product of an unusual approach by President Trump: restraint.
