If Kavanaugh fails, just nominate him again, says GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham

If at first you don't succeed, nominate, nominate again.

That's Sen. Lindsey Graham's (R-S.C.) advice for President Trump as Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh hovers on the confirmation borderline. Of course, Graham is confident Kavanaugh will get through this time around, the senator said in a Tuesday statement. But just in case he doesn't, Graham suggested Trump give it another go.

From calling Kavanaugh "not Bill Cosby" to raging against the "unethical sham" of sexual assault allegations facing the nominee, Graham has become Kavanaugh's staunchest defender over the past week. Graham's Tuesday statement reiterated that support, imploring his fellow senators to ignore these "attempts at character assassination" and vote to confirm the nominee. But if they don't, well, Trump should just re-nominate Kavanaugh and "appeal the Senate's verdict directly to the American people."

NEW: Sen. Lindsey Graham encourages Pres. Trump to re-nominate Brett Kavanaugh if he is not confirmed.

"It would—in effect—be appealing the Senate’s verdict directly to the American people." https://t.co/QQQz0t4leE pic.twitter.com/WxYchB3p0Q

— ABC News (@ABC) October 2, 2018

This desperate plea hearkens back to a time long before the Kavanaugh fiasco, a time when Trump was still considering nominees to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy. Back in July, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) reportedly asked Trump to re-nominate former President Barack Obama's nominee Merrick Garland, for whom Senate Republicans refused to hold a hearing in 2016 — a request that seems almost humble when compared to Graham's passionate directive.