Congressman Jim Renacci on Thursday said that Ohioans don't care if President Donald Trump has, as he claims, the power to pardon himself.

"When it comes to the issue of pardoning, he has the power to pardon those that he believes should be pardoned, but I think most people in Ohio aren't concerned about that," Renacci, a Wadsworth Republican who is running for U.S. Senate against incumbent Democrat Sherrod Brown, said in a conference call to boost the Supreme Court nomination of U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Brett Kavanaugh.

Kavanaugh in the past has taken dramatically different positions on whether presidents should be effectively immune from criminal investigations.

On Wednesday, Kavanaugh said he does not believe the president is above the law. However, he sidestepped questions about whether he thought the president has the power to pardon himself or people who can offer evidence against the president.

As the nominee to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, Kavanaugh could be the decisive vote in any case regarding the limits of presidential power that comes before the high court.

The question is relevant now with Trump — who nominated Kavanaugh — enmeshed in overlapping criminal investigations. Also, several members of his inner circle have been indicted or convicted of felonies and his former personal lawyer has implicated Trump in illegally paying for the silence of women who claim to have had extramarital affairs with Trump.

During the hearings, Sen. Chris Coons, D-Delaware, said that given Kavanaugh's views about presidential power, "we have to confront an uncomfortable, but important question about whether President Trump may have selected you, Judge Kavanaugh, with an eye towards protecting himself."

Renacci punted when asked whether he believed Trump has the power to pardon himself.

"Here's what I do believe, I believe the president is moving our country forward," Renacci said."He's doing what the people of Ohio want when it comes to the economy, jobs, when it comes to job creation."

Renacci also said Ohioans are more concerned about their economic insecurity than whether Trump pardons himself.

"This is not something that mainstream people in Ohio (care about). They are worried about making their next payment on their car," Renacci said. "They're worried about making sure there's a future for their children and grandchildren. They're worried about a lot of those things."

Renacci was joined on the call by Ohio Republican Chair Jane Timken. Both decried Democrats' and protesters' repeated interruptions during Tuesday's opening of the nomination hearings.

Renacci was asked how their behavior was different from Republican refusal, during the last year of the Barack Obama presidency, to grant a hearing for Merrick Garland, Obama's nominee to fill the seat of deceased Justice Antonin Scalia.

Renacci said that the Garland nomination was in a presidential election year while the Kavanaugh nomination is during a midterm election year. Pressed on why they were different, Renacci said, "I'm actually trying to confirm what (Democratic) Vice President (Joseph) Biden said years back that he believed presidential years were more important."

In June 1992, then-Sen. Biden took to the Senate floor to argue that to depoliticize the process, nominations should be delayed until after that election. There was no vacancy on the court at the time and Biden did not argue that nominations should wait until the next presidential term began, the fact-checking site Politifact reported.

In 2016, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, held up and ultimately killed the Garland nomination until Trump became president. That seat was filled by Justice Neil Gorsuch.

mschladen@dispatch.com

@martyschladen