On Monday Donald Trump spoke about his lifelong sobriety from alcohol, saying in a press conference in the Rose Garden that he has “never had a beer in my life” while also adding “it is one of my only good traits,” according to reports from USA Today .
Trump drew laughter from the media gathered for the conference, which served as Trump’s announcement of the USMCA — the new North American trade deal that will be replacing NAFTA. The talk of alcohol was in regards to Brett Kavanaugh, his nominee for the Supreme Court. Since his nomination, Kavanaugh has become the subject of an FBI investigation over allegations of sexual misconduct during his high school and college years, all of which allegedly occurred when Kavanaugh had been consuming alcohol.
Trump went on to joke about how his life may have turned out if he had consumed alcohol, saying to the audience, “Can you imagine if I had, what a mess I’d be? I’d be the world’s worst.”
When pressed over his feelings about his nominee’s drinking, as well as whether he had lied about how much alcohol he had consumed while attending school, Trump made it clear that he did not believe that Kavanaugh was lying.
“I watched him,” said Trump as he recalled watching Kavanaugh’s testimony last Thursday. “I was surprised at how vocal he was about the fact that he likes beer… This is not a man that said that he was perfect with respect to alcohol.”
“I can honestly say I’ve never had a beer in my life” — Donald Trump gets personal, when asked about Brett Kavanaugh’s statements on drinking https://t.co/29pjCp1uw0 pic.twitter.com/yhbFxC2HSK
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) October 1, 2018
Trump continued by giving his support to Kavanaugh and applauding his honesty, saying “I think the judge has been pretty amazing about describing his situation with alcohol and with beer.”
As for the FBI investigation into Kavanaugh scheduled to take place this week, Trump said that he wanted the process to be “comprehensive” but also “quick,” according to reports from ABC News.
“We don’t want to go on a witch hunt, do we?” said Trump, maintaining that the FBI will be kept to a strict deadline to prevent the nomination process from being dragged out any further.
Trump also made it clear that he would have no qualms if the FBI decided to interview Kavanaugh, saying, “I think the FBI should do what they have to do to get to the answer. I want them to do a very comprehensive investigation, whatever that means according to the Senators and the Republicans and the Republican majority, I want them to do that. That being said, I would like it to go quickly… It’s unfair to him.”
