McConnell: Trump ‘on to something’ with attacks on Democratic congresswomen
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Thursday that President Trump is “on to something” with his attacks against four Democratic congresswomen of color, trying to paint the rhetoric as part of a larger political debate ahead of 2020.
“He’s right about the squad wanting to turn us into a socialist country. … I think the president’s on to something. We’re having a big debate now and next year about what we want America to be like,” McConnell said during an interview with Fox Business.
McConnell’s comments come after Trump railed against four Democrats — Reps. Ilhan Omar (Minn.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Ayanna Pressley (Mass.) and Rashida Tlaib (Mich.) — during a campaign really in North Carolina, saying they “see our nation as a force of evil.”{mosads}
“The leading voices of the Democrat Party are left-wing extremists who reject everything our nation stands for,” Trump told the crowd.
When Trump was in the middle of a diatribe against Omar the crowd broke into chants of “send her back.”
McConnell on Thursday argued that Trump should have extended his attacks to the broader Democratic caucus, saying “what he should have added is that it’s a lot broader than just the four of them.”
McConnell is angling to turn the 2020 elections into a debate over “socialism” as Republicans defend roughly two dozen seats next year, most of them in red states.
“Do we really think that socialism applies here? … That’s what the election, I think, is going to be about,” McConnell added on Thursday.
Ocasio-Cortez on Tuesday accused McConnell of being “complicit in advancing racism.” Asked about her comment during the Fox Business interview, McConnell laughed.
“I think it’s time to lower the rhetoric related to that subject all across America. Everyone knows that’s nonsense,” McConnell said.
He added that he attended Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech and “was there” as an “observer” when President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act.
“Look I’ve got nothing to apologize [for] on this front,” McConnell said. “We ought to tone the rhetoric down across the country.”
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