US President Donald Trump has disparaged a woman's account of alleged sexual misconduct by a Supreme Court nominee and accused the Democrats of using a "con game" to try to scuttle the nomination.
Trump's remarks came as Republicans worked to shore up support for the beleaguered judge Brett Kavanaugh, whose march toward Senate confirmation has been rocked by allegations of decades-old sexual improprieties from two women.
On Friday, Trump had mocked claims, by Kavanaugh's chief accuser, of a sexual assault at a 1980s high school party.
Trump tweeted that the woman would have reported the incident to police if it was "as bad as she says".
In remarks to reporters at the United Nations on Tuesday, Trump took aim at Kavanaugh's second accuser, Deborah Ramirez.
Ramirez told The New Yorker magazine that at a party both attended as Yale students in the 1980s, a drunken Kavanaugh placed his penis in front of her and caused her to involuntarily touch it.
She said she was also inebriated and has admitted to holes in her memory of some details, admissions that Trump highlighted.
"She said, 'well it might not be him', and there were gaps, and she was totally inebriated and all messed up," Trump told reporters.
"She doesn't know it was him but it might have been him and, 'Oh gee let's not make him a Supreme Court judge because of that.'
"This is a con game being played by the Democrats."
Trump said rejecting Kavanaugh would be "a horrible insult" and "a very dangerous game" for the US.
He spoke two days before the Senate Judiciary Committee plans a pivotal, election-season hearing at which both Kavanaugh and his chief accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, are due to testify separately.
Senators may stay in session over the weekend to begin voting on the nominee, with a final vote possible early next week.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he's confident Kavanaugh will be confirmed to the Supreme Court.
Ford has said Kavanaugh tried removing her clothes and covered her mouth to prevent screams after he pinned her on a bed during a high school party.
Kavanaugh, 53, a judge on the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals, has denied both women's stories.
