A majority of white voters — including white women — believe Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh should be confirmed, according to a new poll released Monday.
The Quinnipiac poll found 51 percent of white voters believe Kavanaugh should be confirmed, compared to 40 percent who say he should not. By comparison, only 11 percent of Black voters say he should be confirmed, while 81 percent believe he should not. Hispanic voters are similarly opposed, with 30 percent saying he should be confirmed, and 65 percent saying he should not.
The poll also found that among women of all races, a majority oppose Kavanaugh’s confirmation by a margin of 55 to 41.
Among white women, however, just 46 percent said they believe Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey Ford. Among the same group, 43 percent said they believe Kavanaugh. Even fewer white men believe Ford — just 32 percent, according to the poll — and 57 percent said they believe Kavanaugh.
“There is a very sharp divide between men and women on credibility,” Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, said in a release.
The one thing on which the majority of voters agree, however, is “letting the FBI try to sort out the events in the pursuit of the truth,” Malloy said. By a margin of 68 to 28 percent, voters support reopening the FBI’s investigation into the allegations against Kavanaugh.
The poll comes just days after the FBI did exactly that, but many have raised concerns that the investigation is too narrow, as the White House and Senate Republicans have restricted whom the bureau can interview and are requiring that the investigation be wrapped up by Friday.
Ford is one of three women who have publicly alleged sexual assault or misconduct against Kavanaugh. Ford claims Kavanaugh attempted to rape her at a “gathering” in high school, and during sworn testimony last Thursday, she said Kavanaugh forced himself on her, groped her over her clothes, and tried to pull off her clothing. When she tried to scream, he then covered her mouth with his hand and turned up the music in the room to muffle her cries. She said during her testimony that she believed Kavanaugh might accidentally kill her.
According to NBC News’ Peter Alexander, Ford’s legal team says she has not yet been contacted by the FBI.
The second woman who came forward, Deborah Ramirez, told The New Yorker that, at a party in college, Kavanaugh thrust his penis into her face against her wishes, causing her to touch it. The FBI has reportedly interviewed Ramirez as part of its investigation.
A third woman, Julie Swetnick, says she was gang raped at a party where Kavanaugh was present.
Swetnick did not directly implicate Kavanaugh in the attack, but she wrote in a sworn affidavit that Kavanaugh was among a group of boys with whom she associated, who she claimed frequently spiked women’s drinks or drugged them in order to rape them.
President Trump was asked at a press conference Monday if he believed the FBI should interview Swetnick, but he did not answer the question. Kavanaugh has denied all the claims.