WASHINGTON — Republicans mounted a combative, coordinated drive Monday to salvage Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination as they fought to keep a second woman’s allegation of long-ago sexual misconduct from derailing his confirmation.

President Donald Trump leapt to his defense, the top Senate Republican accused Democrats of a “smear campaign” and an emotional Kavanaugh pledged to fight for his nomination and proclaimed, “I’ve never sexually assaulted anyone.”

That declaration, remarkable for a nominee to the nation’s highest court, came as Republicans embraced their newly aggressive stance and Kavanaugh’s prospects dangled precariously.

The similar tones and wording they used in defending him suggested a concerted effort to undermine the women’s claims and portray an image of unity among GOP senators while pressing toward a confirmation vote.

In the run-up to an appearance by Kavanaugh and his main accuser at a dramatic Senate hearing, Trump called the accusations “totally political” and among “the single most unfair, unjust things to happen to a candidate for anything.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., angrily accused Democrats of slinging “all the mud they could manufacture” and promised a full Senate vote soon, but specified no date.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., retorted that if McConnell believed the allegations were a smear, “Why don’t you call for an FBI investigation?” Schumer accused Republicans of “a rush job to avoid the truth.”

Trump has made clear he won’t order an FBI probe. McConnell said Thursday’s Judiciary Committee hearing would proceed, and No. 2 Senate GOP leader, John Cornyn of Texas, said the panel could vote on sending Kavanaugh’s nomination to the full Senate as early as Friday.

In a letter to the committee, which plans the climactic hearing featuring Kavanaugh and his first accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, the nominee accused his opponents of launching “smears, pure and simple.”

Later, Kavanaugh and his wife sat for an interview on the conservative-friendly Fox News Channel, an extraordinary step for a Supreme Court nominee. Kavanaugh, 53, is currently a judge on the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals.

Kavanaugh said he wasn’t questioning “that perhaps Dr. Ford at some point in her life was sexually assaulted by someone at some place, but what I know is I’ve never sexually assaulted anyone.”

Kavanaugh said while there were high school parties with beer and he wasn’t perfect, “I’m a good person. I’ve led a good life.”

He said that he’d never done anything like the episodes his accusers have described and that he didn’t have sexual intercourse until “many years” after high school.