WASHINGTON—In a move that experts believe could upend the confirmation of President Trump’s second Supreme Court justice, the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh had reportedly begun to falter Friday after The Washington Post published a shocking editorial claiming he neglected to attend his eldest daughter’s piano recital in the fall of 2013. “This is exactly the sort of bombshell that a lot of conservative analysts have been worried about,” said NPR political reporter Asma Khalid, noting that several key Republican senators were questioning their endorsement after learning the D.C. Circuit judge had flagrantly decided to work late at the office instead of listening to his then-8-year-old daughter plunk out “The Sleepy Cat” for an audience of students, parents, and faculty. “Susan Collins of Maine, for instance, has already signaled that she has serious doubts about Kavanaugh’s commitment to protecting women’s rights if, as reported, it took him until the following morning to view the iPad footage of his own daughter’s culminating musical performance. Though supporters will claim he put the wrong date in his Google calendar or that he ran into traffic on the way to the school, this black mark on his record has many concerned that Kavanaugh simply does not have the judgment or moral integrity to serve on the nation’s highest court.” Khalid also cautioned that Kavanaugh’s nomination should not be counted out entirely, pointing to a blistering Wall Street Journal opinion piece that failed to derail Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination despite persuasively arguing that she is of Hispanic descent.

Advertisement