'Look at me:' Women confront key Republican senator over Kavanaugh
Through tears, protesters implore Jeff Flake of Arizona to change his vote
Emotions ran high in the U.S. Capitol on Friday over President Donald Trump's latest Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh.
Soon after Republican Sen. Jeff Flake announced he'd vote to confirm Kavanaugh, two women who said they were sexual assault survivors cornered him in an elevator as he headed back to the Senate judiciary committee hearing.
Through tears, they implored him to change his mind about how he would vote.
Watch as two protesters confront Flake ahead of the committee vote:
TV footage of the confrontation showed the two women blocking the Arizona senator from closing the elevator door. One woman begged Flake to look her in the eye.
"Look at me and tell me that it doesn't matter what happened to me," she said. "That's what you're telling all women in America — that they don't matter, they should just keep it to themselves."
Impending vote
Another woman said Flake was allowing a person who "violated someone" to serve on the Supreme Court. Both women cried as they spoke to him.
"I need to go to my hearing. I've issued my statement," Flake said.
Eventually a member of Flake's staff said they needed to go and the doors closed.
Angry Democrats walked out as the Republican-led Senate panel set the vote for 1 p.m. ET on whether to recommend Kavanaugh's confirmation to the full Senate.
"What a railroad job," Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono said.
Kavanaugh has denied that he sexually assaulted psychologist and professor Christine Blasey Ford when they were teenagers. The committee on Thursday heard emotional and sometimes combative testimony from both Kavanaugh and Ford.
With files from Reuters