Brett Kavanaugh is one of the least popular Supreme Court nominees ever

President Trump's second Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday for the start of his confirmation hearing, where he was immediately met with protesters.

The contentious mood was in part due to Kavanaugh's nearly unprecedented unpopularity: A Washington Post/ABC News poll found that just 38 percent of Americans say Kavanaugh should be confirmed. Another 39 percent said he should not be confirmed, and the remainder of those polled said they were undecided.

Only two other nominees for the Supreme Court have had weaker public support, reports ABC News — one of whom, Robert Bork, was rejected by the Senate. The other, Harriet Miers, withdrew her nomination. Trump's previous nominee, Neil Gorsuch, had significantly higher support.

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Support for Kavanaugh is similar to Trump's low approval outside of the Republican Party. While 78 percent of Republicans support Kavanaugh, just 35 percent of independents and 13 percent of Democrats do. Among the 60 percent of Americans who disapprove of Trump, 17 percent say Kavanaugh should be confirmed.

The Washington Post/ABC News poll was conducted Aug. 26-29, surveying 1,003 adults reached by phone. The margin of error is 3.6 percentage points.