After Refusing to Meet With Obama Supreme Court Nominee, Gardner Touts His Meeting With Trump’s Pick

Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner released videos yesterday of himself gushing over Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh.

Gardner’s embrace of Kavanaugh stands in contrast to the Republican senator’s refusal to even meet with Obama’s Supreme Court selection Merrick Garland. Gardner explained at the time that he wouldn’t meet with Garland because “our next election is too soon and the stakes are too high; the American people deserve a role in the process as the next Supreme Court justice will influence the direction of this country for years to come.”

Yesterday, with an election about three months away, Gardner issued a news release titled, “Gardner Meets With Supreme Court Nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh,” which stated:

GARDNER: “Today I was able to meet with Judge Kavanaugh –  clearly he is a well-qualified judge who has incredible experience in the federal courts. We had a long conversation about the role of precedent and how a judge should perform on the bench. It’s not about personal opinion, it’s not about personal biases or policy preferences, it’s about looking at the law and ruling on the law and where the law takes you. We had a good conversation about how he would be on the Supreme Court. It was a very good meeting and I think he will make an incredible Supreme Court Justice.”

Here are the videos Gardner released related to his meeting with Kavanaugh.

In the first video below Gardner said he normally he shares with them “the shrine,” which is a John Elway jersey, and he apologized for not being able to share the jersey with Kavanaugh. Garnder also said it was a “great meeting.”

The second video is Gardner’s statement.

Kavanaugh’s opponents say his addition to the U.S. Supreme Court could gut Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision guaranteeing abortion rights.

Kavanaugh would replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, who is also a conservative mostly, but sided with liberal justices in key cases involving abortion rights and social issues.

In 2016, Gardner’s refusal to meet with Garland earned Gardner a personal rebuke from Obama.