Kavanaugh: I didn’t recognize Parkland dad seeking handshake

Kavanaugh told the Senate Judiciary Committee he assumed the man who approached him was a protester. (File photo: United States Court of Appeals)

WASHINGTON — Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh says he would have shaken the hand of a man whose daughter was killed in a Florida high school shooting if he had known who the man was.

A photo of Kavanaugh appearing to refuse to shake Fred Guttenberg’s outstretched hand last week went viral.

Kavanaugh told the Senate Judiciary Committee he assumed the man who approached him was a protester. He says if he had known who Guttenberg was, “I would have shaken his hand, talked to him, and expressed my sympathy. And I would have listened to him.”

Kavanagh’s explanation was part of a 263-page response late Wednesday to some 1,287 written questions from senators.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to meet Thursday to consider Kavanaugh’s confirmation.