Miami Herald
Senators behind Collins steal the show as she explains Kavanaugh vote in long speech
By Jared Gilmour
Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine took to the Senate floor Friday to announce her much-anticipated -- and potentially pivotal -- decision on Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court.
"We live in a time of such great disunity, as the bitter fight over this nomination -- both in the Senate and among the public -- demonstrates," Collins said, announcing her support for his confirmation. "It is a case of people bearing extreme ill-will towards those who disagree with them."
But for some watching Collins' long-winded speech, and anxiously waiting for Collins to make her voting intentions clear, the two women behind her stole the show.
"Who are these two ladies behind Collins," one Twitter user wrote. "Because they look pissed. They both look bored to tears."
They weren't just "two ladies," though: The women sitting behind Collins during the speech were Republican Sens. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi, who have both announced their support for Kavanaugh's nomination.
Many on social media said it wasn't a mistake that two women happened to be seated in the background during Collins' speech.
Others theorized it would be unlikely for pro-Kavanaugh Republican women to sit behind Collins if they anticipated her voting against the nominee they support.
A CNN journalist -- while waiting for Collins to reveal her vote -- said he commiserated with Capito, tweeting a picture of the senator with her eyes shut at one point during the speech.
Kavanaugh's nomination was thrown into uncertainty last month when Dr. Christine Blasey Ford came forward alleging that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her while the two were in high school -- leading to a delay in his confirmation process as the Senate held a hearing on the allegations and the FBI completed a supplemental background check, which Republican senators said failed to corroborate Ford's allegations.
Kavanaugh protesters yell at Sen. Collins for voting 'yes' on procedural vote Sen. Susan Collins, from Maine, told protesters outside her office she would vote "yes" in a procedural vote to move Brett Kavanaugh's nomination for Supreme Court Justice forward on October 5. They responded by yelling "no."