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'National Review endorses McConnell over Trump?' Transcript:
National Review, you're killing me, man. You're killing me. Their motto was, well it still is, I guess, but I'm not sure that they can claim nowadays that they live up to it. Their motto is, "Stand athwart history and yell STOP!" Today, I guess they're trying to say that they're yelling stop.
They've come out with an op-ed saying no to Donald Trump, No to Trump in 2024, by Charles Cook. So, a bunch of these guys were never Trumpers, and they don't like him and they go through some of the same old, boring arguments.
They want to dismiss the fact that Trump accomplished a ton is his four years. They don't even mentioned the fact that Putin waited until Trump left to invade Ukraine. They don't even mention that as a potential success for President Trump.
He's Still The Man. Photo: Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images
But look, the whole case is quite boring and unpersuasive. But the thing that got my attention in this piece is near the bottom. He talks about if there's another candidate in the primary versus Trump, they would select the other candidate. That's fine, I'm all for other candidates running against Trump in the primary. I think it makes candidates better when they have opponents. So, I've got no problem with other candidates running. I don't see him losing to any of them. I don't think DeSantis is going to run against him. So, any of the other options, I just don't think Trump loses, but hey, go run, get some experience running. It's great.
But here's the thing that got my attention. He says, "None of the other candidates have sat in their country club for the last two years issuing unhinged press releases, delivering infinite endorsements, and attempting to undermine Mitch McConnell." This is where it gets really wild, "Attempting to undermine Mitch McConnell," quote. "The most effective Republican Senator of the last 50 years."
Mitch McConnell is the most effective Republican Senator of the last 50 years according to National Review. Now I know what they would say when people go after him, they'd say name us another one. Well, what is your definition of effective, anyway? When has Mitch McConnell ever stood athwart history and yelled stop? If you're going to go say Merrick Garland. That was easy. He had the votes. All he had to do is stand there like a potted plant and not do anything.
He gets way too much credit for Merrick Garland, way too much credit. From the right and the left, well vile from the left, but too much credit from those on the right. The only pressure he felt was inside the beltway. Outside the beltway, people understood the decision to not confirm a Supreme Court justice in an election year when Obama was not even up.
Remember this? Did he repeal Obamacare root and branch, like he promised? [Mitch McConnell speaking at CPAC in 2013] "It's a disaster. Anybody who thinks we've moved beyond it is dead wrong. Obamacare should be repealed, root and branch. And I want you to know we're not backing down from this fight."
Senator Mitch McConnell Remarks at Conservative Political Action Committee, March 15, 2013
Yes, he did. He backed down completely. He didn't get it done. It's only through Donald Trump's force of will that he got the individual mandate repealed. Mitch McConnell did not repeal and replace Obamacare like he promised over and over and over and over and over again.
Did he help Trump with the wall at the Southern border? No. And look at the mess that we have down there now. Did he set in legislative cement some of Trump's Southern border executive orders? No. His inaction has laid the groundwork for Biden to do whatever he wants, which is to have a wide open gate down there. It was only Trump who figured out how to rearrange some money out of the Defense Department to build what he could build.
Has he shrunk the size of government in the last 50 years? No.
Has any social issue gone in a conservative direction in the last 50 years in the United States Senate? The preservation of marriage, preservation of the family, abortion. No, no, no.
Has he denied or deprived Biden of anything since he got here? No. Only Mansion and Sinema have.
Did he deprive Obama of anything outside of Merrick Garland? Not much. They negotiated some bipartisan spending bills because that's what McConnell likes to negotiate, spending.
Even with the latest spending bill that was just passed, McConnell was out there suggesting what an a huge accomplishment it was that they took out $15 billion in new COVID relief in a $2.7 trillion spending bill. The House did that. The House Republicans did that. McConnell didn't do anything. The House Republicans took care of that for him.
What about going forward? National Review claims not to like Trump's agenda. Well, we all know what Trump's agenda is. Do you know McConnell's agenda? The most effective Senator in the last 50 years, according to National Review, do you know his agenda headed into 2022?
Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images
He has none by his own admission. According to Axios, a couple of weeks ago, "Mitch McConnell has told colleagues and donors Senate Republicans won't release a legislative agenda before next year's midterms, according to people who've attended private meetings with the minority leader.... Every midterm cycle, there are Republican donors and operatives who argue the party should release a positive, pro-active governing outline around which candidates can rally. McConnell adamantly rejects this idea, preferring to skewer Democrats for their perceived failures."
He has no agenda. How do you plan on being effective if you don't know what you want to accomplish? And he doesn't, because the only thing he knows how to do is spend your money. So, come on National Review, you got to do better than this. You kill any credibility that you're struggling to hang on to.
You don't like Trump, fine, make that persuasive case, which you really didn't. But don't insult people's intelligence by suggesting that Mitch McConnell was the most effective Senator in the last 50 years. That's just absurd. You're way out of bounds on that one. The guy has betrayed conservatism time and time and time again. Don't fall for that stuff.
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