President Donald Trump had not explicitly criticized Christine Blasey Ford, Brett Kavanaugh's accuser, before Thursday night. | Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images Trump on Kavanaugh accusations: 'Why didn't somebody call the FBI 36 years ago?'

President Donald Trump on Thursday night questioned why "somebody" did not contact the FBI 36 years ago when Christine Blasey Ford alleges she was sexually assaulted by Brett Kavanaugh, now a Supreme Court nominee.

"You could say, 'Why didn't someone call the FBI 36 years ago?'" Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity in a live interview before a rally in Las Vegas. "You can also say, 'When did this all happen? What is going on?'"


Since Ford came forward on Sunday night, Trump has defended his Supreme Court pick, but had not explicitly criticized Ford.

Kavanaugh has denied the allegation that he sexually assaulted Ford at a party when the two were in high school.

Trump added that he still wants to hear what Ford has to say, but cautioned that the Senate Judiciary Committee has delayed its consideration of Kavanaugh long enough.

"I don't think you can delay it any longer. I think they have delayed it a week already," Trump said.

Trump's mention of the FBI underlines one of the biggest points of contention since Ford came forward. Both Ford and Senate Democrats have requested that the FBI look into her allegation as a part of Kavanaugh's background check.

Senate Republicans have responded that the FBI does not conduct such investigations, but former bureau officials told POLITICO that the FBI would probe such a thing if they were ordered to do so. Trump previously said the FBI was not interested in an investigation.

"Well, it would seem that the FBI really doesn’t do that," he told reporters on Wednesday. "They’ve investigated about six times before, and it seems that they don’t do that."

POLITICO reported Thursday night that Ford's attorneys spoke with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) about their client possibly testifying next week, but a firm deal is not yet in place.