SPONSORED:

#MoscowMitchMcTreason trends after McConnell defends blocking election security bills

The hashtag #MoscowMitchMcTreason began trending on Twitter Tuesday morning after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellTop aide: Biden expected to visit Georgia in push to boost Ossoff, Warnock Democrats brush off calls for Biden to play hardball on Cabinet picks Richmond says GOP 'reluctant to stand up and tell the emperor he wears no clothes' MORE (R-Ky.) fired back against the nickname "Moscow Mitch" in a fiery speech from the Senate floor.

MSNBC host Joe ScarboroughCharles (Joe) Joseph ScarboroughFox News wins ratings week, while MSNBC touts daytime figures Scarborough: Putin more likely to take tough question than Trump Michael Keaton urges Biden not to debate Trump again: 'You won. Walk away' MORE, a former GOP lawmaker, dubbed McConnell “Moscow Mitch” after McConnell on Friday blocked two election security measures

The hashtag #MoscowMitch quickly began trending on Twitter following Scarborough's comments.

ADVERTISEMENT

McConnell responded on Monday, decrying the attacks against him as “modern-day McCarthyism.

“I was called unpatriotic, un-American and essentially treasonous by a couple of left-wing pundits on the basis of bold-faced lies. I was accused of aiding and abetting the very man I’ve singled out as an adversary and opposed for nearly 20 years, Vladimir PutinVladimir Vladimirovich PutinPutin not ready to recognize Biden win Putin: Russia ready to give Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine to other countries Trump to participate in virtual G-20 summit amid coronavirus surge MORE,” McConnell said.

“These pundits are lying, lying when they dismiss the work that has been done. They’re lying when they insist I have personally blocked actions which, in fact, I have championed and the Senate has passed," he added. "They are lying when they suggest that either party is against defending our democracy.”

Social media users, however, doubled down on their tweets criticizing the senator. Both the hashtags #MoscowMitchMcTreason and #MoscowMitchUnAmericanTraitor began to trend across the United States.

“The Breakfast Club” radio host Charlamagne tha God wrote that it “feels good” to wake up and see the phrase trending nationally.

“These guys are blatantly openly working with the Russians to keep power and until I saw that trending I thought nobody cared. AMERICA your illegitimate president is a Russian agent. #FightTheFascists,” he wrote on Twitter.

Grant Stern, an author and podcast host for Occupy Democrats, wrote that it was obvious that Scarborough “struck a nerve” when he coined the nickname.

ADVERTISEMENT

“When the Senate ‘leader’ responded, he proved Joe’s 100 right by  spouting the Kremlin line that investigating Putin's help to Trump is McCarthyism.”

Hundreds of other used the hashtags to mock or criticize McConnell, some even picturing him dressed in Soviet-era uniforms.