Sep 20, 2018

New poll: opposition against Kavanaugh increasing

Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

More American voters are against Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court, with a new national NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll on Thursday showing that opposition has increased by 9 percentage points since last month.

The backdrop: This comes as the judge is ensnared in a controversy after a women accused him of sexually assaulting her when they were in high school more than 30 years ago. Kavanaugh has categorically denied the accusation.

By the numbers: The poll conducted Sunday through Wednesday, found that 38% of registered voters said they oppose Kavanaugh — up from 29% recorded last month. 34% support him.

  • The poll also revealed Kavanaugh's weak support among women: 28% favor his nomination and 42% are against it. Meanwhile, his favorability among men is 41% to 33%.
  • 66% of Democrats oppose him and 73% of Republicans support his nomination.

Key finding: This is reportedly the highest level of opposition of a Supreme Court nominee since the NBC/WSJ poll started asking about them in 2005.

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