Originally published August 7, 2023 8:00 pm PDT
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was met with chants of “retire” and “ditch Mitch” at an event in his home state over the weekend.
QUICK FACTS:
- Hecklers greeted Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell with chants calling him to “retire” at the Fancy Farm picnic in Kentucky over the weekend.
- Throughout the senator’s speech, people could be heard booing and chanting “Ditch Mitch,” as McConnell kept a straight face.
- The shouting got so loud at one point that McConnell could barely be heard.
- “Shame on you,” hecklers yelled, as the senator discussed the different ways he believed President Biden and current Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear are destroying the country.
FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP ON MITCH MCCONNELL’S FREEZE DURING SPEECH:
“That was a sad thing to see,” Trump said. “He had a bad fall, I guess, and probably an after-effect of that. But it was also sad that he gave trillions and trillions and trillions of dollars to the Democrats to waste on the Green New Deal, destroying our oceans and destroying our great, beautiful vistas and plains all over our country with windmills that are very expensive energy. So that’s a very sad thing also.”
BACKGROUND:
- Last month, McConnell froze during a leadership press conference, staring forward blankly for almost 20 seconds.
- Senate Republican Policy Committee Chairwoman Joni Ernst (R-IA) asked McConnell, “Are you good, Mitch?”
- Doctor and Senate Republican Conference Committee Chairman John Barrasso (R-WY) also asked if he was okay, adding, “Anything else you want to say?”
- Barrasso then said, “Let’s go back to your office. Do you want to say anything else to the press? Let’s go back.”
- An aide to McConnell said the leader “felt lightheaded and stepped away for a moment.”
- “He came back to handle Q and A, which everyone observed was sharp,” the aide noted.
- The situation followed McConnell falling and suffering from a concussion earlier this year.
