“You haven't written anything that throws me away recently,” the Kentucky senator once shot me.
We laughed. Senator Mitch McConnell (r-ky.) has a fascinating charm. That was his way of enjoying me when I saw him around town.
For a long time, I was grateful for reading this column regularly and wanted to snap back immediately. But I bit my tongue because I think it would be best to let him give me a final laugh. After all, he isLongest party leaderIn the history of the US Senate.
He is now 83 years old and resigned last year as leader of his party.Last month announcedThat he doesn't seek an eighth term, the senator is at the dusk of his career.
The bad news for McConnell is that despite his decades standing as the top GOP leader in Washington, he is now covered in President Trump's party takeover.
I have TrumpCalledMcConnell was “Dour, a grumpy, unsmiling political hack,” and warned that Republicans would be lost if they worked with him. And playing cardsissuedRacially pointed out insults against McConnell's wife. McConnell didn't fight back.
The only public shot McConnell took with Trump came on January 6, 2021 after a riot at Capitol. I'm saying He is “morally responsible.”
But when it was time to act, he voted to accuse Trump.Weak explanation: “There is a criminal justice system in this country…”
At the same time, McConnell, according to the New York Times. I told my private advisor: “The Democrats are going to take care of the bitch son for us.”
This year, McConnell tried to regain his dignity by ignoring Trump in a vote against Trump's nomination. Pete Heggs for Secretary of Defense, Tarshi Gabbard for the Director of the National Intelligence Bureau and Director of the Health and Human Services for Robert F. Kennedy Jr..
Sorry, Mitch. Like AristotleCredit for saying“One swallow is not a summer piece.”
Put another way, despite some good votes for bad candidates, the history book emphasizes that McConnell's power will play over the years to polarize the Senate with his fierce right ideological agenda.
McConnell cannot erase the procedural tricks to block President Obama's judicial appointment. It blocks voters who elect a Democratic president and a Democratic Senate majority to appoint judges and confirm.
McConnell's tactical success left federal courtThere is a shortage of judges. That led Harry Reid, the majority leader of the time, to make difficult decisions.Filibuster endsSo judicial candidates can fill in the backlog of vacant seats in non-supporting courts.
McConnell threw a wrench into the most famous judicial system after Judge Antonin Scalia passed away. hePreventionDemocrat candidate Merrick Garland is a perfectly qualified central Democrat, with a confirmation hearing.
Instead, McConnell invented the AFake excusesOn not filling seats during the presidential election year – they stall in hopes of Republicans winning the White House and appointing them in their place.
His gambling paid off, but it set a new low as a brave violation of Senate norms. And McConnell quickly followed the confirmation of Trump candidate Amy Connie Barrett within three months of the 2020 presidential election.After Judge Ruth Bader Ginsberg died.
Beyond the damages McConnell has inflicted by distorting the Supreme Court balance, he also opened the door for businesses and the rich to flood money to buy influence on the trajectory of Congress and the campaign.
McConnell remains a folk hero among wealthy Republican donors because of his crusades against Campaign Finance Act. He was the main plaintiff in the 2003 case. McConnellv. FECarguing that McCain Feingold's bipartisan campaign reform law is unconstitutional, as conservatives argued, “money equals speech.”
At the time, the discussion seemed hilarious. The court ruled over McConnell. But opponents of the incident from conservative justice set the stageCitizens Unitedv. FECLess than 10 years later. The ruling opened the door to dark money for unlimited, private companies, in order to overwhelm the political system.
McConnell's legacy exceeds campaign finance damage. His records are full of hostility towards abortion rights, gay rights and environmental protection. And he supported consistently Tax reduction It benefited the wealthiest Americans The deficit explosion.
Yes, most Republicans at Capitol Hill went along with McConnell's legislative agenda, but he set the agenda as party leader.
For the history books, he will become the main player paving the way for Trump.
As Joy Bear Recently summarized McConnell's career: “He stole a Supreme Court seat from Obama, voted to acquit Trump after the rebellion, and once again supported him for the president. Mitch, thank you nothing. Don't the door hit you on your way out.”
McConnell managed to draw a surprising conclusion to his career. If his conscience finally caught up with him, he could switch parties, become a Democrat and endorse Kentucky Democratic Gov. Andy Besher as his successor to the Senate.
Republicans already hate him because Trump told them. He literally has nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Other than that it's too little, too late.
McConnell falls into history not as a politician, but as the man who brought us in this dangerous moment.
Senator, that's not destroying you. It simply states the facts.
Juan Williams is a senior political analyst at Fox News Channel and award-winning civil rights historian. He is the author of a new book.These Eyes New Awards: The Rise of the Second Civil Rights Movement in America. ”
