OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared on a Sunday news program to discuss a wide range of current affairs, including whether or not he plans on supporting President Biden’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Kentanji Brown Jackson, after declining to support her to nomination to the D.C. Court of Appeals in 2013 when then-President Obama nominated her to succeed then-Judge Merrick Garland.
“You know, we had a very good conversation in my office and I asked her, you know, typically the Supreme Court nominees of both parties have never answered the questions,” McConnell told CBS News.
“What they typically say is that something that might come before me, and I don’t want to prejudge how I might actually vote, but I asked her to defend the court. Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Justice Breyer both publicly opposed court-packing, that is, trying to increase the number of court members in order to get an outcome you like,” the Kentucky Republican continued.
“That would have been an easy thing for her to do, to defend the integrity of the court. She wouldn’t do that. So, in the meantime, the committee will ask her all the tough questions. I haven’t made a final decision as to how I’m going to vote,” he said.
“I’m going to listen to the evidence. I’m going to listen to the hearings. And by the way, she’ll be treated much better than Democrats typically treated Republican nominees like Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh,” McConnell continued.
“It will be a respectful, deep-dive into her record, which I think is entirely appropriate for a lifetime appointment,” McConnell added. “I’m willing to listen to the testimony. That’s why we have hearings.”
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In the same interview, McConnell appeared to throw some shade at two GOP lawmakers in the House who are staunch allies of former President Donald Trump and who are not fully on board with providing unlimited U.S. aid to Ukraine.
In the same interview, McConnell told host Margaret Brennan that Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina were “lonely voices” in Congress for their stance regarding the embattled country after Russian forces invaded nearly a month ago.
“President Biden heads to Europe this week to meet with NATO allies. You helped give him about 13 billion in urgent support along with the rest of Congress. What do you expect the president to deliver this week?” host Margaret Brennan asked.
“Well, we’ve given him plenty of money. I think he needs to step up his game. He’s generally done the right thing, but never soon enough. Mean, let’s take a look at what’s happened here. The Ukrainians have killed more Russians in three weeks than we lost in Afghanistan and Iraq in 20 years,” McConnell responded.
“I think we ought to go into this believing the Ukrainians can actually win. And the way they win is for us to get these defensive weapons system to them as rapidly as possible. For example, I am perplexed as to why we couldn’t get the Polish Russian MiGs into the country. Now, the Ukrainians have plenty of pilots who know how to fly them,” the senator added.
Later, she said, “You are very clear in your language there, but others in your party have not been. Congresswoman Liz Cheney has said there’s actually a Putin wing of the Republican Party these days. Think she’s referring to Congressman Cawthorn, who called Zelenskyy a thug? Marjorie Taylor Greene said the U.S. should not fund a war the Ukrainians cannot possibly win. Is there any room in the Republican Party for this rhetoric and why isn’t there more discipline?” she said.
“Well, there’s some lonely voices out there that are in a different place, but looking at Senate Republicans, I can tell you that I would have had I been the Majority Leader put this Ukraine supplemental up by itself. I think virtually every one of my members would have voted for it,” McConnell replied.
“The vast majority of the Republican Party writ large, both in the Congress and across the country, are totally behind the Ukrainians and urging the president to do- take these steps quicker. Yeah, to be bolder. So, there may be a few lonely voices off the side. I wouldn’t pay much attention to them,” he added.
