McConnell’s main virtue is that whomever replaces him will be almost certainly worse.
All three of the top contenders for the job voted to certify Biden electors in Arizona and Pennsylvania.
On 2/13/21, McConnell said this:
“Former President Trump’s actions preceding the riot were a disgraceful dereliction of duty.”
Yet, just two weeks later, when asked if he would support Trump in 2024 if Trump was nominated, he said this:
“The nominee of the party? Absolutely.”
And then there’s this, from today’s Guardian:
Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the US Senate, will “look past a load of shit” to endorse Donald Trump for president, a GOP colleague said.
“He’ll look past a load of shit to improve the path to the majority,” the senator said, speaking anonymously to the Hill. “That’d be the one reason why Mitch would rise above principle and do the politically expedient thing … because he is hell-bent on getting the majority, and he’ll make personal sacrifices for that.”
In the end, he’ll still put the GOP over the USA. He’s still an asshole.
I’ll bet if you said that to his face, he’d give you a blank stare.
If there’d been no Trump, he’d be remembered as a Contract With America obstructionist. But now he’ll be remembered as a Make America Great Again obsequiounist.
Good riddance.
IMO this man is evil. Actually evil.
He has done more harm to this country and its people than even the Orange Menace.
Well, hell. I thought i could come up with one single thing about him that wasn’t abhorrent, but that was harder than I thought. He really is an complete failure of a human being. Good riddance. Though his replacement will certainly be no improvement.
Some of the talking heads today mentioned that the more MAGA-y Senators had started being openly disrespectful to Mitch in recent months. That wouldn’t suit someone who’d gloried in his powerful status for so long.
So it might not be just his health.
(Though I doubt any of us would be shocked to hear of his passing.)
Yes, this. It’s going to be a close one.
True. I fear McConnell has shown the way and now all republican leaders will follow in his footsteps. McConnell made it ok to break down any norm when convenient and put party ahead of the welfare of the country.
McConnell is an awful man.
This. Oh, for the good old days, when there were congresscritters that actually voted their conscience and not the party line. The next time the speaker is of a different party from the president, you know damned well that they will slow-walk every nomination. Every. Single. Time. Thanks, Mitch.
And this. McConnell didn’t push through a single federal judge during Obama’s last year. Trump crowed about how many judicial positions he filled - that had nothing to do with Trump and everything to do with McConnell.
Joe Biden’s take:
How would you know that’s not just another “mitch.exe Not Responding” episode.
Mitch was numerate: he knew how to count votes. Mitch was never a weasel and he didn’t play 9 dimensional chess. He said what he was going to do (after extensive consultations with the caucus) then did it. He operated at a much higher level than, say, Big Kev.
Mitch was also the architect of obstructionism, blowing up democratic mores and congressional practices left and right. He would sponsor a bill on one day, and filibuster it on another. He started out as a Republican tacking to the center, saw that Reagan got better vote tallies than he did in his own state, then reinvented himself as a conservative. Possessing the charisma of a soggy sponge, he openly opposed campaign finance reform, something he supported as a reporter before he pursued elected office, because only an avalanche of negative campaigning could ever persuade voters to overcome their natural aversion to him. Political handlers liked him for his compliance and absence of scruples; CEOs admired him for enabling their massive political spending in pursuit of lower taxes for fatcats. With great power came great irresponsibility for McConnell. Conservatives considered him a modern conservative hero, and I agree.
I wonder what that means?
That Mitch is an “up-front” asshole and he doesn’t bother to hide it.
Mitch McConnell, seen here stepping down. Good riddance.
I’m curious who the people on this board would deem worse as president. Trump or McConnell?
I do not think McConnell can run now (way too late to get on ballots) but I honestly find myself wondering who would be more awful as president?
It’s just speculation, maybe a hijack for this thread. I just can’t help but wonder who is more terrible?
Trump, but that’s a low bar.
Trump is far worse, because he’s an authoritarian who wants to overthrow the constitution. Chaotic evil. McConnell is lawful evil, which is much better. Also, McConnell is a bog-standard Republican without any particular ideology. A known quantity.
Gonna’ have to give this one to PJ O’Rourke, who – as most of us know – said this about Hillary (vs. Trump):
She’s wrong about absolutely everything, but she’s wrong within normal parameters.
Ditto Mitch.