Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell dismissed the backlash from Republican critics after support for a bipartisan border deal collapsed on Wednesday.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) called for McConnell’s resignation this week, arguing the border deal was too weak to be tolerated. McConnell said his detractors are ignoring and compromising political realities.
“For all the time I’ve been in this job, there’s been a minority of persistent critics. They had an opportunity,” McConnell told Politico on Wednesday, adding that he hopes to replace him as leader in 2022. I mentioned an attempt to do so.
“We’ve been talking about borders because our persistent critics wanted it,” he continued. “We cannot pass any legislation without negotiation with a Democratic president and a Democratic Senate.”
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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell dismissed the backlash from Republican critics after support for a bipartisan border deal collapsed on Wednesday. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
When asked Tuesday specifically about the call for Cruz to resign, McConnell responded with typical deadpan humor.
“I think we can all agree that Sen. Cruz is not a fan,” he told reporters.
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But Cruz isn’t the only Republican senator speaking out. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) campaigned against the border bill and called for “new leadership” in his party. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) was similarly dissatisfied.
“I’ve been very unhappy since this started,” Johnson told Politico. “Leader McConnell has completely defeated this.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) called on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to resign this week, arguing that the border deal is too weak. McConnell said his “relentless critics” ignore the realities of politics and compromise. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc, via Getty Images)
Cruz said the bill was authored by Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.); Kyrsten Sinema, Arizona.“codifying” Biden’s penchant for a porous border and “normalizing” 5,000 illegal immigrants per day.
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“That equates to 1.8 million people a year, and about 6 million illegal immigrants over the three years of the Biden administration. …So the stupid Republican proposal would have cut two-thirds of the border invasions that Biden authorized. It was about paying for it,” he said. FOX News Wednesday morning.
Republicans are furious about the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border. (Fox News)
The Republican infighting comes after U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced that there have been 1 million border encounters since the start of fiscal year 2024 on Oct. 1. CBP reached the 1 million mark faster than any other year.
