WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump, fighting to shore up his nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court in a divided US Senate, on Tuesday called sexual misconduct allegations against the judge “a con game being played by the Democrats.”

Trump’s comments to reporters at the United Nations represented an escalation of his rhetoric on behalf of the conservative federal appeals court judge whose nomination to a lifetime post on the high court has been imperiled by allegations dating to the 1980s brought by two women.

The president’s remarks came a day after Kavanaugh sought to bolster his chances of confirmation in the Senate with a high-risk interview on Fox News in which he denied all the allegations against him.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell reiterated that the chamber will hold a confirmation vote in the aftermath of a Judiciary Committee hearing set for Thursday in which Kavanaugh and a woman who has accused him of sexual assault will testify. Senator John Thune, a member of Republican leadership, told reporters the Senate debate on Kavanaugh could begin as soon as Friday or Saturday, with a confirmation vote possible next week.

Kavanaugh has denied the allegations by Christine Blasey Ford, a university professor who accused him of sexual assault in 1982 when both were high school students in Maryland, and Deborah Ramirez, who accused him of sexual misconduct during the 1983-84 academic year at Yale University.

Trump on Tuesday said Ford’s allegation was 36 years old “and nobody ever heard about it.” Of Ramirez’s allegation, Trump said, “And now a new charge comes up. And she says, ‘Well it might not be him.’ And there were gaps. And she said she was totally inebriated, and she was all messed up, and she doesn’t know it was him, but it might have been him.”

“Oh, gee, let’s not make him a Supreme Court judge because of that? This is a con game being played by the Democrats,” Trump added.

Kavanaugh and his Republican allies have framed the allegations as part of a “smear campaign” by Democrats who have opposed his nomination from the beginning.

Republicans hold a slim 51-49 Senate majority, meaning Kavanaugh’s confirmation prospects may hinge on the votes of a handful of moderate Republican senators who have not yet announced their intentions, These include Senators Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins and Jeff Flake.

A comment by Murkowski to CNN on Tuesday could be an ominous sign for Kavanaugh. Republican leaders and Trump have rejected Democratic demands for the FBI to investigate the allegations. But Murkowski, asked about an FBI investigation, said, “It would sure clear up all the questions, wouldn’t it?” — Reuters