'Trump says he SAVED Brett Kavanaugh's career by nominating him to the Supreme Court - but is disappointed with his voting and thinks he 'doesn't have the courage to be a great justice', book claims
Former President Trump made his comments about Justice Brett Kavanaugh in Landslide: The Final Days of the Trump Presidency which will be published on July 27
Former President Donald Trump railed against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in an interview for a new book, saying he was 'very disappointed' in his voting record.
His anger was triggered by the Supreme Court's decision last year not to take up a Texas lawsuit challenging the 2020 election results.
And since then, the court has issued a series of decisions that have disappointed conservatives who thought Trump's nominees would steamroll liberal justices.
In an interview with Michael Wolff, for 'Landslide: The Final Days of the Trump Presidency,' the former president said he felt betrayed by all three of his Supreme Court nominees, including Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett.
But he reserved 'particular bile' for Kavanaugh.
'There were so many others I could have appointed, and everyone wanted me to,' he said, according to the book which has been obtained by DailyMail.com.
'Where would he be without me? I saved his life. He wouldn't even be in a law firm.
'Who would have had him? Nobody. Totally disgraced.
'Only I saved him.'
Former President Trump said he was disappointed in all three of his nominees for the Supreme Court, including Amy Coney Barrett (back row, far right) and Neil Gorsuch (back row, second right) but reserved 'particular bile' for Brett Kavanaugh (back row, far left) in an interview with Michael Wolff for his new book
Trump said he had stood by Kavanaugh during a turbulent confirmation process. 'Practically every senator called me, including Crazy Mitch, and said, "Cut him loose, sir, cut him loose. He's killing us, Kavanaugh"
Kavanaugh’s confirmation process was overtaken by scandal and controversy amid allegations of sexual assault.
Trump said he stood by Kavanaugh even as allies urged him to ditch his nominee.
'Practically every senator called me, including Crazy Mitch, and said, "Cut him loose, sir, cut him loose. He's killing us, Kavanaugh."
'I said, "We can't do that because it will destroy him - he won't be able to even go back to the second-highest court, right?"
'They used the expression "cut him loose," and I said, "I can't do that," and it was very derogatory, that expression, "cut him loose."
Trump claimed about half of Republican senators thought his nominee should be jettisoned.
'And I went through that thing and fought like hell for Kavanaugh - and I saved his life, and I saved his career. At great expense to myself,' he said.
Trump's elevation of three conservatives to the Supreme Court is frequently held up as one of the greatest triumphs of his presidency.
Supporters see it as a crucial battleground in America's culture wars, where the justices can hold back the advance of liberal values.
But if Trump thought nominating three conservative justices would mean he had loyalists in position to carry out his bidding then he was wrong.
This month, the court decided not to take up the case of a florist who said she had a constitutional right to refuse to supply flowers for a same-sex wedding. Of Trump's three nominees, only Gorsuch said he would have heard the case.
Disappointed conservatives accused Kavanaugh and Coney Barrett of selling out.
Even the court's 6-3 conservative majority was not even to unpick Obamacare. In June, justices voted 7-2 to uphold the Affordable Care Act, rejecting a GOP-led challenge to the individual mandate.
Kavanaugh sided with liberals in a 7-2 vote to uphold Obamacare in the face of a GOP challenge that the individual mandate was unconstitutional. He also voted not to hear the case of a florist who said her First Amendment rights were infringed when she was prosecuted by Washington state for refusing to supply a floral arrangement to a same-sex wedding
Again Kavanaugh and Coney-Barrett, along with conservative Justices John Roberts and Clarence Thomas, sided with liberals on the court.
Trump claimed he did not want anything in return from Kavanaugh, but made clear his disappointment in his decisions.
'I can't even believe what's happening. I'm very disappointed in Kavanaugh,' he said.
'I just told you something I haven't told a lot of people.
'In retrospect, he just hasn't had the courage you need to be a great justice. I'm basing this on more than just the election.
'And the others . . . Roberts? What's going on with Roberts? I have no idea, and nobody else does.
'But the Supreme Court has shown no courage and no strength, and they have been horrible for the United States of America.'
Kavanaugh's nomination was almost derailed in 2018 when Professor Christine Blasey Ford came forward to accuse him of sexually assaulting her in the early 1980s while the two were in high school.
Her intervention prompted two other women to come forward with allegations of misconduct.
Kavanaugh denied any wrongdoing and was eventually confirmed by a vote of 52-48, largely along party lines.
Trump has criticized Kavanaugh and Coney Barrett before, calling them out for their Obamacare ruling in particular.
'I am very disappointed. I fought very hard for them, but I was very disappointed with a number of their rulings,' he said in a June interview with Real America's Voice host David Brody.