Donald Trump

Feinstein Talks President, Kavanaugh and Another Term

California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, in what she said was her strongest condemnation to date, has called on President Donald Trump to stop his "divisiveness" and try to unify the nation.

"I don’t particularly respect this President, particularly the things he says, the demeaning, the name calling. I don't like it in a president. I don’t like the divisiveness, I don’t like the result of the divisiveness."

Feinstein made the comments Sunday during an interview for NBC4's "NewsConference" program. She is running for re-election against fellow Democrat, state Sen. Kevin De Leon.

While she didn’t blame the president directly for the recent mass shooting at the "Tree of Life" synagogue in Pittsburgh, Feinstein appeared to hold the president responsible for rhetoric she believes feeds into extremism.

"By the things we say we enable people to do certain things," she said.

"What you want is to enable people to be good Americans... provide a unifying force... instead he goes to rally after rally of just his own people. I've never seen a sitting president do that, not in my lifetime. What about everybody else?"

As for working with the administration Feinstein says she will "resist when I must and cooperate when I can."

Feinstein says her staff is working on a new immigration reform bill that would codify DACA into federal law. She also expressed hope of seeking another assault weapons ban and while saying she opposed government-run health care known as "single-payer" she did advocate for a government option to private health insurance.

The ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Feinstein does not believe the partisan vote on Justice Brett Kavanaugh following his contentious confirmation process would damage confidence in future rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court.

"Kavanaugh is now on the court and he will be judged the way every Supreme Court justice is judged and I think that is fair. And we will watch, and we we'll wait and we'll see."

If elected, Feinstein, who is 85, would be 91 by the end of her next term. She says she still has the stamina for the job/

"I work a very long day. I've produced, I get things done. I have a good staff. They work hard, and I work hard. As long as my health and my brain continue on, I would like to continue on."

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