Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Wednesday defended her two President Trump- appointed colleagues, Justices Brett M. Kavanaugh and Neil M. Gorsuch, as two “very decent” men during a Duke Law event in Washington, D.C.

“I can say that my two newest colleagues are very decent and very smart individuals,” the liberal justice said during an hourlong Q&A with Duke Law professor Neil Siegel, one of her former clerks.

Justice Ginsburg made the comment after Mr. Siegel lamented that Supreme Court nominees were no longer chosen due to their “independence,” “legal ability” or “personal decency,” National Review reported.

Justice Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings were plagued by a sexual assault allegation against him, but he was eventually sworn in on Oct. 6 to replace retired Justice Anthony Kennedy.

Justice Ginsburg has previously praised the newest justice for having an all-female staff.

“It’s thanks to our new justice, Justice Kavanaugh, whose entire staff are all women, all of his law clerks are women,” she told a panel at Georgetown earlier this month, the Washington Free Beacon reported. “And with his four women as law clerks, it’s the first time in the history of the United States that there have been more women clerking at the court than men.”

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