They are not embracing populism, though it once seemed so. They are embracing anything touched by Trump.

Trump, Kavanaugh and their now-fierce band of supporters merge on multiple fronts.

Kavanaugh adopted Trump’s angry tone of grievance and raw emotion as he testified that he did not sexually assault Christine Blasey Ford when they were in high school. He snapped at Democrats and alleged that the accusations against him were “a calculated and orchestrated political hit, fueled with apparent pent-up anger about President Trump.”

Besides the attitudinal similarity, there was the political one: Kavanaugh’s known beliefs square with those of both Trump and his supporters. And, on a lighter note, his avowed fondness for beer struck the same everyman note as Trump’s affinity for cheap fast food.