Americans oppose Kavanaugh confirmation

More American voters now

oppose Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination than support it after he was accused of committing sexual assault while he was in high school, with opposition increasing 9 points since last month, according to a new national NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

Kavanaugh has categorically denied the accusation, which delayed his scheduled confirmation vote before the Senate Judiciary Committee, and which has roiled American politics less than seven weeks before the 2018 midterm elections.

In the poll — which was conducted Sunday (when the accusation from Christine Blasey Ford was first made public) through Wednesday — 38 percent of voters say they oppose Kavanaugh's nomination to serve on the nation's highest court, including 27 percent who "strongly" oppose him.

The increased opposition to Kavanaugh has come, in particular, from women over 50 (who were +3 on Kavanaugh's confirmation in August and are -7 now) suburban women (-6 in August and -11 now), independents (who were +15 in August and -16 now) and seniors (+9 in August to -10 now).

Despite those changes, support for Kavanaugh breaks down largely along party lines. Seventy-three percent of Republicans back his nomination, versus only 4 percent who oppose. (By comparison, current Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch's score among Republicans in the February 2017 NBC/WSJ poll was 58 percent support, 2 percent oppose.)

Among Democrats, however, it's 66 percent oppose, 8 percent support. And independents are opposed to Kavanaugh, 37 percent to 21 percent.