In Less Than Two Weeks, McConnell Distances Himself From Trump Stances

[HAPPY2BME]

Feb 5, 2017

The leader of the Senate Republicans distanced himself from President Donald Trump Sunday, disagreeing on issues involving Russia, the judiciary, and alleged voter fraud.

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) on Sunday was pressed on CNN about Mr. Trump’s recent statements, and repeatedly said he disagreed with them.

Asked about Mr. Trump’s recent reference to the “so-called judge’’ that ruled against the president’s executive order on immigration and refugees, Mr. McConnell again distanced himself from the White House.

“I think it’s best not to single out judges for criticism. We all get disappointed from time to time …  but I think it’s best to avoid criticizing judges individually,’’ he said.

Mr. McConnell also poured cold water on the pledge by Mr. Trump to launch a national investigation of voter fraud. The president has claimed, without evidence, that millions of people voted fraudulently in the presidential election.

If there’s going to be a probe of possible voter fraud, Mr. McConnell said, that should be handled by the states. “I don’t think we ought to spend any federal money investigating that,’’ he said. “We ought to leave that at the state level.’’


http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2017/02/05/senate-republican-leader-distances-himself-from-trump-stances-on-russia-judge-vote-probe/

[HAPPY2BME]

Conservatives really, really dislike Mitch McConnell

The enduring conservative dislike for Mitch McConnell has long been a bit amusing to liberals. From their point of view, McConnell has arguably done as much anyone to sabotage the Obama agenda, hatching a grand obstructionist strategy that has often seemed almost cartoonishly diabolical. But conservatives have long lamented that at best, he’s an insufficiently zealous warrior who blinks when the going gets rough (on the debt ceiling), and at worst, he’s an unprincipled inside-the-Beltway dealmaking sellout.

Case in point: Ken Cuccinelli, the national Tea Party hero who boasted of being the first Attorney General to sue to block Obamacare and ultimately lost a close gubernatorial race as conservative standard bearer against Terry McAuliffe in Virginia. In an interview with the Hill, Cuccinnelli argues in scalding terms that McConnell is fighting for his political life right now, because he lacks core conservative principles:

    “Mitch McConnell’s going to go to the wire, because he is vehement about not standing for anything. And he has a good long track record about not standing for much other than keeping the campaign dollars flowing. And that is not inspiring to ordinary Americans, to conservatives, even to base Republicans.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2014/10/30/conservatives-really-really-dislike-mitch-mcconnell/?utm_term=.5287a7f5f0bd