Tag: Moscow Mitch

‘You are failing’: Former GOP supporter of Mitch McConnell tears into the majority leader for helping Russia

AlterNet logoWhen well-known former Republicans start goading Mitch McConnell with the moniker that clearly has him enraged, you know Moscow Mitch’s cover is blown. For years he’s been able to keep sliding under the radar, undermining the Senate, flouting the norms and traditions that kept the institution a functioning body, while the wider world paid little attention.

But that’s changed. His enthusiastic enabling of this worst, most dangerous president is one thing that’s breaking his protective shell. So is his refusal to protect the nation from enemy interference in our elections. But his disregard for human life is the last straw for a lot of people. That includes well-known former Republicans like David Weissman, who used to support McConnell, as well as Trump. In an open letter to Moscow Mitch published Wednesday in The Times of Israel, Weissman told him “if you don’t like this nickname, do your job.”

“You are failing the people that elected you to act as Senator, but instead you act as [a] Russian puppet,” Weissman wrote. “You have also blocked bipartisan bills that would protect elections in our country. This gives Russia more opportunities to interfere in our elections.” He writes to McConnell that he is “single-handedly putting our democracy at risk,” and “This is why the people are calling you Moscow Mitch.”

View the complete September 5 post by Joan McCarter from Daily Kos on the AlterNet website here.

Mitch McConnell really doesn’t like it when you call him ‘Moscow Mitch’

AlterNet logo“Moscow Mitch” is the derogatory name that MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough and other critics of President Donald Trump have used in reference to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Scarborough has repeatedly argued that by blocking election security bills, McConnell is, in effect, helping the Russian government interfere in U.S. elections — an assertion that McConnell obviously resents deeply.

And just how deeply McConnell resents the “Moscow Mitch” moniker was evident during an appearance on Trump supporter Hugh Hewitt’s radio show on Tuesday.

“It’s an effort to smear me,” McConnell told Hewitt. “You know, I can laugh about things like the Grim Reaper, but calling me Moscow Mitch is over the top.”

View the complete September 3 article by Alex Henderson on the AlterNet website here.

Mitch McConnell is intent on getting Trump and himself re-elected ⁠— and will even let Russia help make it happen

AlterNet logo“It sure seems like Russia’s No. 1 ally in compromising American election security is Mitch McConnell.” That’s Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden, talking to Politico at this year’s DEFCON hacker conference in Las Vegas. Wyden and a couple of other Democrats were at the conference, “where a roomful of hackers demonstrated ways to breach insecure voting machines, those lawmakers focused their fury on the man proudly blocking their bills.”

Moscow Mitch, to be precise. “Why hasn’t Congress fixed the problem? Two words: Mitch McConnell,” Wyden said in his keynote address at DEF CON’s Voting Village. Rep. Ted Lieu, Democrat from California was there too, and told Politico his biggest election security concern: “I have two words: Mitch McConnell.” The House, along with having passed two bills that would expand background checks for gun purchases, has also passed election security bills.

McConnell is standing in the way of both, making him a legitimate threat to American’s personal safety and national security. He “knows full well that blocking election security legislation makes it easier for Russia and other foreign powers to attack the next election,” Wyden said. “And my sense is this is a price Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump are willing to accept.” Lieu agreed, “I think you have to ask, why would Mitch McConnell not want to improve election security?”

View the complete August 12 article by Joan McCarter from Daily Kos on the AlterNet website here.

Watch: McConnell drowned out by ‘Moscow Mitch’ chant at Kentucky public speaking appearance

AlterNet logoSenate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) continued to be dogged by the nickname “Moscow Mitch” at a speaking appearance in Kentucky on Saturday, as protestors chanted the name and overwhelmed him.

In a video posted to Twitter, the embattled Republican can be heard attempting to address the crowd loudly chants “Moscow Mitch” in reference to his decision to shut down two Senate bills aimed at slowing down Russian meddling in U.S. elections.

View the complete August 4 article by Tom Boggioni from Raw Story on the AlterNet website here.

GOP punches back in election security fight

The Hill logoRepublicans are pushing back on Democrats after sustaining more than a week’s worth of attacks over stalled election security bills.

GOP senators this week countered accusations from across the aisle that they are thwarting all efforts to secure the 2020 elections, arguing instead that Senate Democrats are abandoning the legislative process, treading on states’ rights and misleading voters about what their legislation would do.

“When they talk about federalizing elections, or having to have a central D.C. location to be able to give certification to every vendor or Voter ID laws or federal funding for elections, those are not election security items, that’s a completely different thing,” Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), one of the main Republicans pushing for election security legislation, told The Hill this week.

View the complete August 2 article by Maggie Miller on The Hill website here.

Why is Mitch McConnell blocking election security bills? Good question.

Washington Post logoAs President Trump’s own FBI director warns that Russians are planning to try to undermine American democracy in the next presidential election, Republican lawmakers led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) are blocking bills aimed at blocking foreign hackers from states’ voting systems.

Why? Republicans have policy objections to the legislation, but it seems clear that politics is at the forefront of McConnell’s decision-making. Specifically, the politics of pleasing Trump.

Trump is so sensitive to findings that Russians tried to help him win in 2016 that a Cabinet secretary was warned against briefing him on it. He’s repeatedly sided with Russian President Vladimir Putin over his own intelligence community about whether Russians interfered. He’s said he might accept foreign help in his 2020 reelection. And last month, he made light of it all when he mock-scolded Putin in front of cameras. “Don’t meddle in the election,” he said, waving a finger and wearing a smile.

View the complete July 30 article by Amber Phillips on The Washington Post website here.

Trump says Washington Post should apologize to McConnell over ‘Russian asset’ column

The Hill logoPresident Trump on Tuesday said The Washington Post should apologize to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) after it published an opinion piece titled “Mitch McConnell is a Russian asset” that criticized the senator’s opposition to election security legislation.

“I think The Washington Post is a Russian asset by comparison,” Trump told reporters as he left the White House for a trip to Virginia.

“Mitch McConnell loves our country. He’s done a great job,” Trump added, noting that he did not read the piece. “If they actually said that, that Mitch McConnell is an asset of Russia, they ought to be ashamed of themselves, and they ought to apologize.”

View the complete July 30 article by Brett Samuels on The Hill website here.

McConnell bristles at ‘hyperventilating hacks’ criticizing his blocking of election security legislation

Senate majority leader calls critiques ‘modern-day McCarthyism’

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell did something Monday he rarely does — he got riled up and responded directly to criticism as he defended his decision to block election security bills last week that Democrats attempted to bring to the floor by unanimous consent.

He took particular aim at a recent Washington Post opinion item by Dana Milbank titled “Mitch McConnell is a Russian asset,” calling it a “smear.”

Criticism of McConnell’s handling of election security legislation on the left crescendoed after the Senate left town last week. On MSNBC, host and former GOP Rep. Joe Scarborough repeatedly referred to the GOP leader as “Moscow Mitch.”

View the complete July 29 article by Katherine TUlly-McManus on The Roll Call website here.

Here’s why the #MoscowMitch nickname is so devastating for Mitch McConnell

AlterNet logoThe “Moscow Mitch” moniker bestowed on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) could stick, the panel on MSNBC’s “Deadline: White House” explained on Friday.

Guest host John Heilemann played a clip of MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough — who was once a Republican congressman — going off on the GOP Senate leader.

“He is aiding and abetting Vladimir Putin’s ongoing attempts to subvert American democracy — according to the Republican FBI, CIA, DNI, Intel committee — all Republicans are all saying Russian is subverting American democracy and Moscow Mitch won’t even let the Senate take a vote on it!” Scarborough said. “That is un-American.”

View the complete July 26 article by Bob Brigham from Raw Story on the AlterNet website here.