Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh speaks while his wife Ashley Estes Kavanaugh (L) and US President Donald Trump listens after the announcement of his nomination in the East Room of the White House on July 9, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP)        (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)
Washington CNN  — 

A Democratic senator from Hawaii is leaving open the possibility of voting for President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee despite widespread calls for an automatic “no” vote from her party.

In an interview with CNN’s Alisyn Camerota on “New Day” Tuesday morning, Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, discussed whether she would vote against the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh, the President’s nominee to the high court to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy.

“The burden of the proof is on him, which means that I am leaning no but maybe he can convince me to vote for him,” she said. “This is a big burden on him to show me he can be fair and objective.”

On Monday night, Trump announced Kavanaugh’s nomination to replace Kennedy, who was considered a swing vote on many of the Supreme Court’s controversial decisions.

Hirono’s comments come in contrast to what other Senate Democrats have said of the nominee. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer D-New York, tweeted Monday that he will “oppose Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination with everything I have, and I hope a bipartisan majority will do the same.”

Kavanaugh, 53, was selected from a list of judges around the country; the conservative group The Federalist Society helped draft the list. He is currently a judge on the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit and previously served in both Bush administrations.