U.S. Sen. Tim Scott has made up his mind about Judge Brett Kavanaugh.

Scott on Monday broke his days-long silence and publicly pledged to support Kavanaugh's nomination to serve on the Supreme Court days after a highly emotional Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Thursday captured the attention of the nation.

But Scott said his choice was not an easy one.

In an emailed statement Monday, Scott called the past few weeks "gut-wrenching."

"Barring the discovery of any new information by the FBI investigation, I plan to vote for Brett Kavanaugh. This is not an easy decision, but the available evidence leads me to it," Scott said in a 484-word statement.

He joins South Carolina U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham in backing President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee.

But where Graham's nearly 5-minute diatribe during the judiciary hearing turned him into the de facto spokesman for Republican anger toward the Democrats' handling of the Kavanaugh hearings, Scott stayed silent and stayed away from sharing his thoughts with the media.

In the weeks that followed Christine Blasey Ford's accusation that Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her while both were still in high school, Scott said he heard from many of his female friends who opened up to him about their own experiences.

"There is no doubt that many women have been fearful, ashamed, humiliated, angry, or have had many other emotions that have led them to not tell their stories. I will never blame a victim for feeling this way – we should be supporting those who have been traumatized instead of constantly trying to tear them down," Scott said in his statement. "We must learn from our past in order to build a safer future."

That future, he continued, must include a commitment to finding the truth.

In her testimony, Ford maintained she was "100 percent" certain that Kavanaugh was the person who attempted to rape her at a high school party in 1982. Ford was the first woman to come forward in recent weeks with allegations against Kavanaugh.

Kavanaugh has emphatically and repeatedly denied all of the claims.

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Scott said the testimony from both Kavanaugh and Ford has left America grappling with a situation where evidence is critical to determining what happened. Though Scott commended Ford for her courage, he said existing evidence has not been enough to prove Kavanaugh was the person who attacked Ford.

"My heart breaks for Dr. Ford as she obviously still confronts a trauma that occurred while she was a teenager. However, none of the evidence we have points to Brett Kavanaugh as guilty of these crimes," Scott said. "Any lawyer will tell you that she said-he said situations are some of the hardest and most painful cases to review, and that remains true here."'

Scott's decision comes after the Senate Judiciary panel on Friday voted along party lines to advance Kavanaugh's nomination to the full Senate. The vote was then delayed so that the FBI could conduct an investigation of its own into the allegations.

The scope of the investigation is unclear.

Trump told reporters Monday at a press conference in Washington that he was open to what he called a "very comprehensive investigation" but said the probe would ultimately be determined by Republican senators.

Hours before Scott announced his plans to vote for Kavanaugh, Graham returned to South Carolina for a brief visit with a conservative group in Anderson.

Graham garnered national attention when he took on his Democratic colleagues in a fiery speech during the Kavanaugh hearings Thursday. Rather than ask questions through the prosecutor Republicans had hired, a visibly angry Graham tore into Democrats for politicizing the confirmation process at what he called the 11th hour.

"What you want to do is destroy this guy’s life, hold this seat open, and hope you win in 2020. You’ve said that, not me,” Graham said at the time, calling the hearing process the "most despicable thing" he’s ever seen in politics.

Speaking to a group of about 80 people who attended the 1st Monday Club of Anderson meeting, Graham said he was confident that Kavanaugh would be confirmed to the Supreme Court this week.

"Our time will come and go. It is up to us to leave something better. I intend to do that by getting Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court," Graham said before the crowd rose to their feet and clapped.