McCaskill: GOP looks like ‘hot, sloppy mess’

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) slammed Republicans on Thursday, claiming their internal divisions were impeding the ongoing debt-ceiling negotiations.

“I don’t know what [House Speaker John] Boehner [R-Ohio] has going on in his caucus,” she said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." “It looks like a hot, sloppy mess.”

McCaskill also touched on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) proposal to craft a fallback position if Republicans and Democrats cannot reach a compromise on raising the debt ceiling.

"I think Mitch McConnell, frankly, has lost his mind,” she said.

She later walked back on those remarks, saying she “shouldn’t be so harsh” on him.

McConnell's proposal would authorize President Obama to request a $2.5 trillion increase in the debt limit in three steps. Congress could block those requests by passing a resolution of disapproval, but any Obama veto would require a two-thirds vote in both chambers to override.

McConnell’s plan has met with resistance from a large number of conservative Republicans, though many Democrats have commended McConnell’s plan for heading in the right direction.

McCaskill echoed other Democrats, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), in emphasizing that the debt crisis is more important than the next election cycle.

"If we ratchet down the politics ... we can get it done,” McCaskill said.

Republicans described Wednesday's debt talks at the White House as tense and claimed they ended when the president walked out of the meeting. Democrats disputed the account.

Both sides will meet at 4:15 p.m. Thursday to resume negotiations.

Watch McCaskill below.

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This story was updated at 11:35 a.m.

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