Following the reported support of President Trump for Kavanaugh, here's more on how some commentators are seeing the judge's performance so far.

Idaho Republican Mike Crapo says Democrats were less interested in an FBI hearing than in simply delaying the nominee's confirmation until after the mid-term elections in November when they hope to take back control of Congress.

According to Bloomberg, it is unlikely that Trump will ask Kavanaugh to withdraw.

"Within the White House, the consensus is that the nominee showed passion and honesty," reports Jennifer Jacobs, citing three people "familiar with the president's thinking".

Trump has been watching the proceedings from Air Force One and the White House.

Rachel Mitchell, the prosecutor selected by Republicans to question Ford and Kavanaugh appears to be silent after questioning the Supreme Court pick at the beginning of his testimony.

Some on social media pointed out many Republicans deferred to her in questioning Ford, but used their allotted time to speak during Kavanaugh's portion.

Democratic Senator Blumenthal asks Kavanaugh if he thinks "the motivation of the courageous woman who sat where you did just a short time ago was revenge on behalf of a left-wing conspiracy".

"Senator, I said in my opening statement that she preferred confidentiality and her confidentiality was destroyed by the actions of this committee," the judge replies.

"Let me ask you this. In a speech that you gave at Yale, you described, 'falling out of the bus on to the front steps of the Yale Law School at 4:45 AM and then trying to..."

Kavanaugh interrupts to say it was after going to a Red Sox game.

Blumenthal continues: "The quote ends, that you tried to 'piece things back together' to recall what happened that night. Meaning..."

"I know what happened," Kavanaugh interjects.

"Doesn't that imply to you that you had to piece things back together? You had to ask others what happened that night?"

"Definitely not... I know exactly what happened that night."

Senator Ben Sasse, a Nebraska Republican, was seen as a possible swing vote on Kavanaugh. Not anymore.

He's just used his time to accuse Democrats of slow-rolling the allegation to drag out the process.

Sasse asked Kavanaugh if it was "fun" for him to be grilled for hours by senators.

No, it was not fun, the judge says.

Sasse eventually yields his time, brushing his microphone aside.

Utah Republican Mike Lee asks if Kavanaugh has been "honest", and the judge says he has.

"For the love of all that is sacred and holy participate in all the committee investigations going on," Lee rebukes Democrats demanding an FBI probe.

"If someone were really interested in the truth this is what they would do. They would participate in the investigation and when we have a committee investigation with live witnesses they would talk about that further than something else they wish they were having in front of them."

"If you have questions for Judge Kavanaugh, ask him. He's right here," Lee says, arguing that an FBI investigation is unnecessary.

When asked by Democratic Senator Coons if he's ever been "aggressive" when drunk, Kavanaugh says "basically, no".

"I don’t know what you mean by that. What are you talking about? No, is the basic answer unless you’re asking about something I don’t know about," Kavanaugh says.

Senator Coons asks Kavanaugh to put himself in their shoes for a moment.

"Wouldn't you either take a step back and conduct a thorough investigation or move to a different candidate? And why not agree to a one-week pause to allow the FBI to investigate these allegations?"

"My concern, should you move forward, is what it will do to the credibility of the court and how that may well hang over your service," Senator Coons adds.

"When you say a week delay, do you know how long the last 10 days have been?" Kavanaugh responds.

"Probably an eternity," Coons says.

"Every day has been a lifetime," Kavanaugh responds.

Image source, EPA

Users on Twitter watching Kavanaugh's hearing continue to comment on the differences between his tone and of Ford's, who testified earlier.

Image source, EPA

"This is worse than Clarence Thomas, I didn't think it could get any worse than that," Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah says.

"This is a national disgrace, the way you're being treated."

"I do not mean to minimise the seriousness of the claims. Yeah they've been serious, but the search for truth has to have more than bare assertions," the senator continues.

The confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas in 1991, despite allegations of sexual harassment, fuelled the rise of a new generation of female politicians in elections the following year.

"I do not mean to minimise the seriousness of the claims," says Ohio Republican Orrin Hatch.

"He was an immature high schooler.

"So were we all," he says with a chuckle.

"That he wrote or said stupid things sometimes does not make him a sexual predator."

Kavanaugh opens up after the break by apologising for asking Amy Klobuchar about her drinking habits.

The Democratic senator thanks him for his apology.

She says that when one has a parent who's an alcoholic, like she does, one is cautious about drinking.

Here is that testy exchange.

The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (Rainn) is reporting a spike in calls to the National Sexual Assault Hotline.

Rainn is the largest anti-sexual violence organisation in the US.

It has been posting information on its Twitter page about how survivors can block certain terms from appearing on their feeds, in order to avoid being "triggered" by graphic allegations of sexual assault being discussed on Capitol Hill.

Read more here: What are trigger warnings?

There was a suggestion earlier that Mitchell would be given the same time she had in Ford's hearing to question Kavanaugh. It doesn't seem to be happening, and many are questioning why.

Some, however, seem happy that she has "disappeared". Laura Ingraham, the conservative Fox News presenter, said on Twitter: "Lord please tell me we won't hear from Ms. Mitchell again. She was painfully out of place and unhelpful."

She has since deleted the message.

An uncomfortable exchange:

Senator Klobuchar asks Kavanaugh if he's ever been blackout drunk, and he turns the question on her.

"Have you?" he asks twice.

"Can you answer the question?" the senator says.

Kavanaugh says he's curious about her drinking habits.

She says she has "no drinking problem".

"Neither do I," he says.

Democrat Amy Klobuchar suggests that Kavanaugh simply ask the president to open an FBI investigation into the claims against the nominee.

Earlier, he refused to call for an FBI investigation, saying that it is the role of the US Senate to "advise and consent".

"I don't mean to interrupt, but I guess I am," Kavanaugh tells her, before saying that Mark Judge - who Democratic senators want to question - has already submitted a written testimony to the committee.

Sarah Sanders, the White House press secretary, and Kellyanne Conway, one of the president's counsellors, have both tweeted in support of Senator Lindsey Graham's angry speech championing Kavanaugh.