Why McConnell struggled with questions about his 'moral red line'
Category: Op/Ed
Via: john-russell • 2 years ago • 140 commentsBy: Steve Benen (MSNBC. com)
April 8, 2022, 12:45 PM UTC
By Steve Benen
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has held countless press conferences and done all kinds of interviews with news outlets, but yesterday the Kentucky Republican faced a question he hadn't previously answered in public. The result was an important and insightful moment.
Axios reported on the exchange that got much of the political world talking.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said during an Axios NewsShapers interview with Jonathan Swan that he'd be obligated to support former President Trump despite the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol if the GOP renominates him for president in 2024.... McConnell had not previously been pressed on the contradiction between his Senate floor comments in February of 2021 saying Trump was "morally responsible" for January 6th, followed two weeks later by saying he'd "absolutely" support Trump as nominee.
Before digging in on yesterday's back and forth, let's review the backstory because it's highly relevant.
It was during Trump's first year in the White House that the Republican looked to McConnell as someone who would simply take presidential orders and make Trump's problems go away. When the senator tried to explain how government worked, a "profane shouting match" soon followed.
But it was after Trump's defeat that the relationship collapsed. McConnell had the audacity to accept the results of his own country's elections and criticize Trump for failing to do the same, at which point the former president started condemning the GOP leader as a corrupt "hack."
Things seemed to culminate on Feb. 13 of last year, in the immediate aftermath of Trump's second impeachment trial, when McConnell delivered memorable floor remarks, condemning Trump's "disgraceful dereliction of duty" on Jan. 6. The Senate minority leader added, "There is no question — none — that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of that day. No question about it."
In the same speech, McConnell called out Trump for his "crescendo of false statements, conspiracy theories, and reckless hyperbole ... orchestrated by an outgoing president who seemed determined to either overturn the voters' decision or else torch our institutions on the way out."
The Kentucky senator went on to raise the prospect of Trump facing civil and/or criminal penalties for his obvious misconduct.
Two weeks later, McConnell appeared on Fox News and was asked whether he'd support Trump's 2024 candidacy, if the former president again ran as the Republican nominee.
"Absolutely," McConnell replied.
And it's this point that Axios' Jonathan Swan was eager to explore during an on-stage interview yesterday, inquiring specifically about the longtime senator's "moral red lines."
McConnell seemed confused, and a little annoyed, by the question, explaining that he's "very comfortable" with how he's conducted himself in public life.
And so, Swan got more specific, noting McConnell's pre-written remarks in the immediate aftermath of Trump's second impeachment trial, followed by McConnell's declaration that he'd support Trump's 2024 candidacy anyway.
"As a Republican leader of the Senate, it should not be a front-page headline that I will support the Republican nominee for president," McConnell said, adding, "I think I have an obligation to support the nominee of my party, and I will."
When Swan pressed further, asking if there's anything the former president could possibly do that would cause the senator to withhold his support for the former president, McConnell, appearing visibly frustrated, explained, "I don't get to pick the Republican nominee for president. They're elected by the Republican voters."
In other words, asked about his "moral red lines," the Senate minority leader conceded that such lines effectively do not exist, at least insofar as electoral politics is concerned.
McConnell's candor was certainly welcome, though it was jarring: He believes Trump instigated an insurrectionist attack on his country's seat of government, but he'd support Trump's candidacy anyway if GOP primary voters back the former president anew.
McConnell feels an "obligation," not to do what's best for the United States, and not to honor his ethical principles, but to prioritize partisanship above any other consideration. For the Kentucky senator, his list of concerns is as follows:
- Prioritize the Republican Party's pursuit of power.
- See Point #1.
It doesn't matter if Trump tried to overturn his own country's election. It doesn't matter if he dispatched a violent mob against his own country's Capitol. It doesn't even matter if he's corrupt and incompetent. What matters for McConnell is the "R" after Trump's name. Period. Full stop.
The idea of higher principles — patriotism, propriety, ethical consistency — is simply not a part of McConnell's amoral calculus. I find myself oddly grateful that the senator didn't pretend otherwise.
Steve Benen
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MSNBC political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "The Impostors: How Republicans Quit Governing and Seized American Politics."
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Of course, Moscow Mitch.
Why do you feel odd that a Senator didn't pretend?
That is a quote from the seeded article. That is what the gray vertical bar to the left of the text signifies.
Thanks, I missed that. I wonder why the author feels odd.
possibly, for even as McConnel spits out paradoxical points, he stays true to one ambition, and this ambition, that the Republican Party, to not my surprise, again puts "party" over our COUNTRY, even when it threatens and attempts to override via an insurrection he plainly saw Trump orchestrate from the inside out, and as stated, without a doubt, in his own written words, proving one thing, that 'POWER" to he and the bankcorrupt GOP with, or without, the violation of moral and ethic Acy, is above anything when it comes to the Republican Party remaining in power, by ANY MEANS and obviously via any ands all extremes. As Mitch exampled NO other loyalties to ANYTHING or ONE, as his immoral compass proved he has only one objective without exception, that the GOP must remain in POWER, irregardless of method and madness, and to see such a hollow man never take a stand, this , to the author, did stand out , and for all, should be seen as a sign of sadness, thus why i suspect the author was made to feel odd, either that, or it was because Mitch, like the GOP, put nothing above power, as they see nothing as EVEN, or equal, for it is ODD, with a wink and a nod, to not see what was saw, and look upon it with awe, or at least with a dropped jaw, for you did recen tly state, you knew not what the "right" actually was, or now, did stand for, and that perhaps oddly enough, even reminded me of this scenario.
Coming from the party who allows millions of illegals to enter the country. who puts party in front of parents, who puts criminals ahead of the police, who puts party in front of women's rights, who want to create division by making children oppressed or the oppressor. Yeah, tell me about being surprised.
it's usually whensomethjing unexpected happens....
Former AG William Barr has said the same thing. He prefers that the GOP nominate someone else, but if Trump was the nominee, Barr would have to vote for him. When asked why Barr said:
"Because I believe that the greatest threat to the country is the progressive agenda being pushed by the Democratic Party, it’s inconceivable to me that I wouldn’t vote for the Republican nominee,” Barr responded."
Of course whatshisnames' consigliere would vote for his mob boss. I mean, his summary of the Mueller report was his resume after all.
I mean, his summary of the Mueller report was his resume after all.
So what do you think about Barr's summary?
Comments have been removed from this thread for no value and personal comments. Next time tickets will be given out.
So they don't care about a secure border, overseas stability, booming economy (until the pandemic), low inflation, low gas prices, low unemployment, or many other things he had accomplished. I think the exact opposite is true of your post. Democrats measure his success by his tweets, not his actions or the fact the country was better off with him than it is now.. Their hate of him sustains them, they can't let him go.
He didn't accomplish any of those things. The only thing he accomplished was lining his pockets as fast as his fat little fingers could rape, loot, and pillage the US and the treasury.
That nonsense about the tweets is exactly that, nonsense. Ridiculous that you pretend that we only had a problem with mean tweets and that was whatshisnames' only problem - 'mean tweets'.
What reports would those be?
They didn't lose a penny.
Hater?
You're correct about your links - they would be from bogus sources anyway.
. The only thing he accomplished was lining his pockets as fast as his fat little fingers could rape, loot, and pillage the US and the treasury
I call bullshit on your totally made up claim.
especially Ivanka..... Lost Much Money during his Presidency.
Seriously?
Taking into account business done in the months before Ivanka entered the White House and a month or so before Jared joined the administration, the couple earned at least US$172 million, and anywhere up to US$640 million, according to the Citizens For Ethics in Washington (CREW).
I only tell certain people, such as yourself, that I wouldn't read their links, because that's true, they wouldn't matter to me because I know they would be bogus.
I do read links, just from people I like and trust.
You don’t think that 640 million dollars made up for whatever her Chinese produced line of trash was worth?
Hell, we could claim Biden and his druggie son took millions from the Chinese and Russians, too!
That would have a higher probability of truth than trump was pillaging from the treasury.
I do read links, just from people I like and trust.
Heaven forbid you read anything you might not agree with, you might actually learn something new.
WAIT!!!! I missed that conspiracy theory. When did that come out?
The reason they're not provided, by you and others, is just your excuse for providing what you didn't have in the first place - or an alt-right, bogus, source.
Maybe they saw it on msnbc. It is possible trump visited the treasury and picked up a dime he saw on the floor. By the time msnbc was done editing it he pillaged the treasury.
You really think he would stoop to pick up a dime?
I think he would fight someone for it. I also think biden would bend down for it as long as there was someone there to help him up.
I think he would order someone to bend down and pick it up.
I'm not as old as Biden but I need help getting back up these days
Makes sense now. .
I am not sure he would trust anyone else enough to have them pick it up.
Same here. That is why I have kids and grandkids.
Somebody would have to direct him as to which way is "down". And then there is still the high risk that he would get lost.
I never thought of him as miserly.
I have a feeling lots of people with money are miserly. I have had more than one wait person tell me often the people that seem to have the most money are the worst tippers.
Maybe Joe would lie 'down' on the floor and look 'up' and get totally confused.
LMAO I could actually see that happening.
Anything that does not match the views and agenda of some on the liberal far left is automatically considered inaccurate. It is their way or the highway.
Must be pretty short list.
You're slurring your keyboarding.
What McConnell should say is "I cannot support Donald Trump, for the reasons I laid out in my Senate speech about him" and then , if he feels he has to , vote for Trump in the privacy of the polling booth without making his choice public.
He's free to pull his pants down in the middle of Times Square too. So what?
dont troll
I'm pretty sure he'll be cited for indecent exposure
Unless he stabs someone while doing it in which case the prosecutor will let him off with a stern look.
[Deleted]
Interesting that Biden most likely got elected because he ran as a moderate. Now that he has shown his true progressive ideology he has probably damaged the chances of the democrats in the next presidential election. How many moderates and independents will trust the next democrat nominee that proclaims they are running as a moderate? I think Bernie has proven that running as a far left wing nut is not an option either. It will be interesting.
Although I would rather have someone other than Donald be nominated by the republicans (too much baggage) I believe the democrats are doing enough damage to themselves where it might not matter.
None! No the dems will be out of national office for a while now, but I am more concerned with how much damage they have done already to this country.
The Democrats have done absolutely ZERO damage to this country.
The Democrats have done absolutely ZERO damage to this country.
Not too sure what country you are in but I am pretty sure vic was talking about the USA.
This one sure as Hell will not!
Some people don't live on the same planet as the rest of us.
So then why claim, as you do here ad nauseam, that it was abhorrent for Democrats to vote for the Democratic nominee Vic?
Hypocrisy?
Who else were we supposed to vote for?
Well Trump of course, because his record on [small d] democratic governance was so fucking stellar. /s
I'd rather shoot myself
I thought a person could put you on ignore if they chose and then you could not respond or see their posts. I could be wrong though
You can still see the ignored person's reply to you in private notes and in the "grayed out" area. I can see who replied to me I just can't see what they wrote except in my private notes
All these rules are giving me a headache. I should have my makers mark nearby when I read them.
Don't read it maybe?? Click to open it staring at the bottom "cancel" and cancel right after it without looking up except to see who it's from. That's what I do.
I hope McConnell doesn't think we owe him any respect
If you don't live and vote in Kentucky, he probably doesn't think or care much about your opinion of him.
True - he probably only cares what little putin and trumpturd think of him. He is Moscow Mitch, Putin's bitch, after all.
What pro-Russian policies has he supported? Hasn't he called for and supported all Russia Sanctions bills. Hasn't he called for and supported all aid to Ukraine?
He pushed for lifting Russian sanctions in 2019 when a Russian aluminum company was going to bring its business to Kentucky.
Wait till you hear what Joe Biden did in 2020.
Yes that is one example. Those sanctions on Russian aluminum industry were eventually lifted that year When they were imposed, it created major disruption in both the US and Europe in transport, construction and packaging industries. Aluminum prices jumped 30% a few days after the sanctions were in place.
Now, after Russia's invasion of the Ukraine, have these sanctions been restored or have they been excluded from the current Russian sanctions?
Is the Biden administration looking to risk more disruption to aluminum availability?
The topic of the seed is McConnell but you can seed an article about what Biden did with Russia. I’ll read it. I don’t make apologies for any politicians.
Yes, and aluminum prices spiked. Along with everything else.
I replied to the example that you cited.
Yes you did. That comment was in reply to Sean.
Thanks, I misread.
twice now, in the time i have been reading this thread you have claimed to have misread what you did respond to, as im familiar with being misread, i rarely misread, unless something i purposely had said
You’re a better reader than I am.
Good Lord, there you go throwing in truth, logic, and common sense. Some people cannot handle that and their heads implode!/sarc
know, that would not be true, but you already knew
Huh?
You can attempt to say you misread, but your posts to date, as of late, that which I’ve read, tend for me to question your claim to being reading comprehensionable challenged, and of course, I could be totally off base, so if and in that case, tag me out, cause I N joy being called Out, cause I feel safer, and can possibly contest, cause I enjoy contests where I am called out, but , being a he said he said , as in your word against my word without a medium to arbitrate, you can stick by your claim, as I like to stake out mine, but do hope we can get to elaborate
Besides, I’m at the bar, lowering it yet again, and looking for a competent debate, so please refrain from your modest claim, and put me to shame, for I’ll only have my ignorance to blame, for it be my rule, and I live to brake rules that I’ve yet to stop, cause I’d rather pour accelerant on the fire, and see if I can’t singe my eye browse around the lashes as I get higher n do enjoy, cause its all in good fun for some, and gives me reason to smile, for I enjoy swimming in the bay “watching the detectives “ filling My nails,”while they’re dragging the lake”
a little Elvis Costello before or after the Abbot habit , as it’s a trail I follow, a bad Abbot Habitual Habbitrail with an exercise wheel of confusion , to exorcise my Demons
but , being a he said he said , as in your word against my word without a medium to arbitrate, you can stick by your claim, as I like to stake out mine, but do hope we can get to elaborate
I see that you really want to challenge my reading ability by including around 75 words and 13 comma’s in your first sentence.
Besides, I’m at the bar, lowering it yet again, and looking for a competent debate, so please refrain from your modest claim, and put me to shame
I’m envious, I’ve had a serious illness and haven’t been to a bar in over two years.
I enjoy swimming in the bay “watching the detectives “ filling My nails,”while they’re dragging the lake”
Swimming is good fun and great exercise, but why waste taxpayer money?
it’s a trail I follow, a bad Abbot Habitual Habbitrail with an exercise wheel of confusion , to exorcise my Demons
I hope that you able to cast put some Demons with this.
i share not my Demonz
As there are many voices in my head, and yet, never a word heard said, for the voices herd in my head speak only sign language, and stop, at sign
Why would you? Or he for progressives?
Exactly! You have no respect for progressives!
Respect is to be earned. Very few progressives have earned it. Hell, very few politicians have earned it. And many that had earned it have managed to lose it.
I have plenty of respect for progressives when they have respect for me. Unfortunately that has not happened much lately on NT. The unbounded hatred of conservatives by some hard core progressive liberals tends to get in the way.
Donald Trump will do less damage to the country than a democratic President.
Pretty simple calculus.
Especially the current one (or whoever controls the current one)
There are those that support Biden who are still confused by 2+2. Calculus would send them screaming. Kind of like they do when you mention Trump's name.
Sad thing is the repubs don't and won't care.
As long as they get what they want, it doesn't matter how.
pathetic
Did you ever notice that some people accuse others of doing exactly what the people doing the accusing are actually doing? And the funny part is they do it with a straight face and fail to see any hypocrisy at all.
I have watched McConnell for years. I have listened to what he says and what he does. He is strictly party over people.
If you want to play the, well Tommy is doing it too game, sorry, not in the mood today.
OH! You mean like trump screaming, "Pay for play Hillary", after he paid off the AG's of Texas and Florida to drop the Trump University cases? Yea, it's weird, right?
Because he has no morals. He's a corrupt, Russian owned POS.