President Donald Trump continued to support Brett Kavanaugh on Tuesday, telling reporters he feels “terribly” for his Supreme Court nominee and emphasizing how long ago Kavanaugh’s alleged sexual assault took place.

“It’s a shame, because this is a great gentleman,” he said of Kavanaugh at a White House press conference alongside Polish President Andrzej Duda.

“I just think that he is at a level that we rarely see, not only in government, anywhere in life,” Trump added. “And honestly I feel terribly for him; for his wife, who is an incredible, lovely woman; and for his beautiful young daughters.”

Psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford has accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her at a party when they were teenagers.

President Trump on Judge #Kavanaugh: "I feel so badly for him that he's going through this, to be honest with you. I feel so badly for him. This is not a man that deserves this."



Full video here: https://t.co/MbbmUQGrcj pic.twitter.com/bR0gOiyXph — CSPAN (@cspan) September 18, 2018

Trump never mentioned Ford by name. Instead, he referred to her as “the woman” when predicting what would happen during the extended confirmation hearings next week.

“They will vote, they will look at this career, they will look at what she had to say from 36 years ago, and we will see what happens,” Trump said.

He also expressed his frustration with Senate Democrats for not bringing up Ford’s accusations earlier. The Senate Judiciary Committee’s leading Democrat, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), received a letter from Ford detailing the alleged sexual assault shortly after Kavanaugh was nominated in July.

“They knew what they were doing,” Trump said. “They should have done this a long time ago, three months ago, not now.”