Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was seen serving food to the homeless while volunteering for Catholic Charities in Washington, D.C., Wednesday, causing left-wing critics to allege the scene was a staged public relations stunt aimed at "humanizing" him.
What are the details?
Entertainment publication TMZ reported on Judge Kavanaugh keeping up his volunteer work in spite of it being his first week on the Supreme Court. The jurist was seen working alongside his former pastor — Monsignor John Enzler, who is now the CEO of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington — feeding homeless residents while his security detail looked on.
"Cynics might see this as a blatant attempt at image repair after the nightmare of his confirmation hearing, but the truth is ... this appears to be a regular thing for him," TMZ wrote. "The Justice was also seen serving up grub to the homeless back in July with the same organization."
Leftist comedienne Kathy Griffin was one of the anti-Kavanaugh liberals who seized on the story, saying on Twitter, "Yet again, TMZ is serving as the PR arm of the White House...helping to normalize Trump's monsters."
Yet again, TMZ is serving as the PR arm of the White House...helping to normalize Trump's monsters. pic.twitter.com/70ddF7m2Tx
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) October 11, 2018
But as TMZ noted, this is the second time in the past few months Kavanaugh was seen serving the homeless as a volunteer with Catholic Charities. A passerby snapped a picture of the judge that went viral back in July, when he was spotted dishing up meals to the needy less than two days after his nomination was announced.
Critics alleged at that time, too, that the scene must have been a staged PR stunt.
Another volunteer, Michael Huston, defended Kavanaugh, saying "I was there and can confirm. Also, this was no mere post-nomination photo op. Judge #Kavanaugh signed up a while back to serve on this date (as he has @CCADW on several prior occasions), and chose to keep the commitment."
A friend of mine spotted Judge Kavanaugh serving hot dinners to the poor this afternoon, after a day spent huddling with lawmakers on Capitol Hill. #AppellateTwitter #SCOTUS https://t.co/WHm5eCZbXd pic.twitter.com/7amp6JrZx3
— Kevin Daley (@KevinDaleyDC) July 12, 2018