Would Amy McGrath have voted Kavanaugh onto Supreme Court? Depends on when you ask her

Hours after telling the Courier Journal she would have voted to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Amy McGrath reversed course to say she would, in fact, not have voted for Kavanaugh.

The reversal came after liberals and conservatives alike slammed McGrath's comments on social media, with some saying they would not donate to the Kentucky Democrat's campaign to unseat Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

"I was asked earlier today about Judge Brett Kavanaugh and I answered based upon his qualifications to be on the Supreme Court. But upon further reflection and further understanding of his record, I would have voted no," McGrath tweeted about four hours after the Courier Journal reported her comments. 

"I know I disappointed many today with my initial answer on how I would have voted on Brett Kavanaugh. I will make mistakes and always own up to them. The priority is defeating Mitch McConnell," she added. 

Last year, when McGrath was running for the U.S. House in a Central Kentucky swing district, she criticized Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump's second Supreme Court nominee, for being too conservative.

"I echo so many of the concerns that others have articulated over the nomination of Judge (Brett) Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court," McGrath said in a July 2018 Facebook post. "He has shown himself to be against women’s reproductive rights, workers' rights, consumer protections and will be among the most partisan people ever considered for the court."

Q&A with McGrath:'If President Trump has good ideas, I'll be for them'

In a tweet that same month, McGrath said Kavanaugh would be a "hardcore partisan" who has opposed women’s reproductive rights, workers' rights and consumer protections.

Two months later, she said Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault, had the more compelling testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee because she had called for federal investigators to question additional witnesses.

"That really stands out for me, not to mention the vast disparity in their temperaments and demeanors while testifying," McGrath said in a September 2018 Facebook post. "Dr. Ford's testimony was quite compelling."

But during the Wednesday afternoon interview, the former Marine fighter pilot running against McConnell — who fought vigorously to get Kavanaugh confirmed — expressed a different view on the nomination.

"You know, I think that with Judge Kavanaugh, yeah, I probably would have voted for him," McGrath said, a day after she announced her 2020 candidacy.

Kavanaugh's appointment became a yardstick of the country's political divide last year, and a litmus test for Senate Democrats who are now running for president. The hearings also became a focal point of the #MeToo movement as Kavanaugh was hit with accusations of sexual assault when he was a teenager.

McGrath said in the Wednesday interview that she still thinks Ford's testimony was credible, but that it didn't disqualify Kavanaugh from being confirmed.

"Well, I mean I think again, I think it's credible but given the amount of time that lapsed in between and from a judicial standpoint, I don't think it would really disqualify him," she said.

Kentucky makeover:McGrath challenges McConnell as a pro-Trump Democrat

Ford told the Senate Judiciary Committee in an emotional testimony last year that during a party in the early 1980s, Kavanaugh and his friend, Mark Judge, both intoxicated, locked her in a bedroom at the home of a friend whose parents weren't home. 

She said Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed, ground himself against her and tore at her clothes. She said the music had been turned up, and Kavanaugh put his hand over her mouth to silence her screams for help.

"I believed he was going to rape me," Ford said.

Kavanaugh vehemently denied the accusation to the committee, at times blasting the hearings for turning into an attack on his personal life.

"I never committed sexual assault," he said.

Kavanaugh was confirmed to the Supreme Court by a 50-48 vote with one Democrat, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, supporting his nomination.

During the time of the hearings, McGrath was running against Rep. Andy Barr, a Republican, for Kentucky's 6th Congressional District seat. House members don't vote on Supreme Court nominees. 

She was among the many Democrats riding the "blue wave," which eventually gave House Democrats their majority.

At the time, McGrath said Republican Sens. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Jeff Flake should insist on additional FBI questioning, "or they vote against confirmation."

"The fact that the Judiciary Committee plans to vote on this right away makes this day even more sad," she said. "I understand the emotional anger that this has caused given the extremely partisan nature of our politics today ... but this type of allegation did not happen to the last Republican nominee to the Court. It needs to be investigated. Considering that there was no rush to even give a hearing to the last Democratic nominee, why are we rushing this given the enormous magnitude of the position?"

Related:5 things to know about  McGrath vs. McConnell in the 2020 Senate race

McConnell is expected to lean heavily in 2020 on his role in reshaping the federal courts, including the Kavanaugh confirmation, as part of his argument for reelection.

McGrath said Wednesday that she was very concerned about Kavanaugh's "far-right stances" but emphasized to the Courier Journal, "there was nothing in his record that I think would disqualify him in any way."

"And the fact is when you have the president and the Senate, this is our system and so I don't think there was anything that would have disqualified him in my mind," she added.

Reporter Phillip M. Bailey can be reached at 502-582-4475 or pbailey@courierjournal.com. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/philb.