s.e.? miguel, stay with us. i want to come back to that. joining me to discuss this further, republican senator from iowa joni ernst. senator, welcome. you know as well as i do, the senate was at the center of the past two weeks. this confirmation. i want your reaction to the crowds. i don t know if you can see live footage but there s a crowd of protesters on the steps of the supreme court right now. people are angry. well, we have heard them all day as well as we did our duties in the senate and in the capitol building. it s every person s right to express themselves as long as they are doing it in a peaceful manner. so we do hope they can continue to express their thoughts but again, make sure that no harm comes to any bystanders or those who might be innocent. i know you voted to confirm
right. i think it kind of goes to show what happens when you lose an election, which this is the result of the 2016 election of the senate being in the control of republicans like the white house and i think kind of gave me too more credit than any movement to get in the scenario and like, they would had to have been something remarkable or insane to have happen for the outcome to be different than it was. me too could not have changed the inevitable here with a republican-controlled white house and a republican senate confirming the nominee of the president. and so i don t think that me too is really responsible for the outcome and the protests, even though there s some reporting that senator collins maybe wasn t responding well to the protests towards her before she made her decision. but even if that were true, i just think that this is really just about the democrats losing the election in 2016. this was inevitable.
as it led up to this moment and i think that a lot of people are probably feeling maybe cynical or hardened by this process right now. i don t know how that will affect the elections going forward but it s a long time from now until then. well, certainly, brian, me too was an invisible player over the last couple of weeks in this confirmation. susan collins even specifically referenced me too in the 45 minute speech yesterday. i was struck by something bill maher said on his show last night. the idea we must listen to women, which is right, is turning to this idea we must automatically believe them. do you think that s the next pendulum swing for me too? among some people, there is a choice to believe these accounts. other people, there is a choice not to. i think these last three weeks are about the backlash of the me too movement which started one year ago this month. it was yesterday a year ago that the weinstein story came out and
mansion, three of four undecided votes would vote to confirm the nominee. the drama reached climax yesterday as senator collins delivered a forceful 45 minute speech on the senate floor justifying her decision. despite the turbulent bitter fight surrounding his nomination, my fervent hope is that brett kavanaugh will work to lessen the divisions in the supreme court so we have far fewer 5-4 decisions. mr. president, i will vote to confirm judge kavanaugh. today s vote caps off one of the most contentious political episodes in recent memory and even tonight, these protests continue in and around the capital and the court, as you can see. so that s a wrap on the confirmation vote but don t
judge kavanaugh and so i know you support him. whether fair or unfair though, he will likely always have an asterisk next to his name. do you think history, from the long look of history will judge him kindly? i do hope that we can heal through this process and i know that he will make very fair decisions. if you would go watch susan colli collins speech from the floor of the united states senate yesterday, she reviewed so many of the opinions and the decisions, the writings of judge kavanaugh where he had been very moderate in his stance and upholding the rule of law. so i do hope in the future, everyone will focus upon his opinions and the fact he is following the law, not making the law and i hope we can put politics aside and make sure that, again, we are following the law and doing the right thing for the united states of america. senator, we re showing live footage now of angry protesters