Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is embracing his role as antagonist of the Democratic presidential debates.
“Being criticized for stopping the liberal agenda and confirming conservatives judges, I love it,” McConnell told a small group of reporters on Thursday, asked about the criticism of him during the first Democratic debate on Wednesday night in Miami.
He added that “the things they are criticizing me for, I plead guilty to.”
McConnell’s comments come as he’s leaned into his role as the “Grim Reaper” for progressive policies, including “Medicare for All” and the Green New Deal.{mosads}
“If I’m still the majority leader in the Senate think of me as the Grim Reaper. None of that stuff is going to pass,” McConnell
said in April while speaking to community leaders in Owensboro, Ky.
McConnell, who is up for reelection, was mentioned by name several times on Wednesday night, including when Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) was asked if she had a “plan” to deal with McConnell if he remains majority leader in 2021.
“Short of a Democratic majority in the Senate, you better understand the fight still goes on. It starts in the White House and it means that everybody we energize in 2020 stays on the front lines come January 2021,” Warren said.
Warren and McConnell have locked horns, including in 2017 when Republicans voted to temporarily block Warren from speaking on the Senate floor after she gave a speech critical of then-Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.). The back-and-forth gave rise to the “she persisted” phrase, because McConnell said Warren “was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.”
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), the top Democrat on the Senate Rules Committee, also blamed McConnell during Wednesday night’s Democratic debate for blocking election security bills. Legislation to bolster the nation’s elections has hit a wall amid pushback from Senate Republicans and the White House despite special counsel Robert Mueller’s report.
And Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said he would deal with climate change by “taking away the filibuster from Mitch McConnell.”
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