Illustration: Rebecca Zisser/Axios
President Trump spent part of his day at the UN General Assembly saying Brett Kavanaugh's second accuser lacked credibility because she was drunk at the time of the incident, while a female Republican senator warned her colleagues against pushing through the nomination without seriously vetting the accusations.
Why it matters: Republicans have only one vote to spare, down from 52 after sexual misconduct allegations cost them a traditionally safe seat in Alabama.
- Trump: "The second accuser has nothing. She thinks maybe it could have been him, maybe not. She admits that she was drunk. She admits that there are time lapses... This is a con game being played by the Democrats."
- Sen. Lisa Murkowski to the N.Y. Times: "We are now in a place where it’s not about whether or not Judge Kavanaugh is qualified... It is about whether or not a woman who has been a victim at some point in her life is to be believed."
What's next: The Senate Judiciary Committee has retained an unnamed female lawyer to handle the questioning on Thursday's hearings, Politico reports. All the Republicans on the committee are male.
- Mitch McConnell to reporters today: "We’re going to be moving forward. I’m confident we’re going to win, confident that he’ll be confirmed in the very near future."
Go deeper: Inside the Democrats' Kavanaugh prep