Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) “The Democrats Did Not Want An Outcome, They Simply Wanted To Act Like Tim Scott Didn’t Exist”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) spoke with Fox News Radio’s Guy Benson about the move by Senate Democrats to block Senator Tim Scott’s police reform bill. Saying,”The Democrats did not want an outcome. They simply wanted to act like Tim Scott didn’t exist and to and to blame us somehow for being insensitive to acting on this important public concern.” The Majority Leader also said,

“It was an inconvenient truth for Chuck Schumer that Tim Scott was the author of the bill. And so he tried to airbrush him out. But he referred to it several times as the McConnell bill. It was a Scott bill that they refused to allow to come up. Someone who has experience exactly the kind of police, selective enforcement that we are all witness in the most severe form with the murder of George Ford. So total, total hypocrite. We did try to take the bill out before the Fourth of July. We were responding to people’s legitimate concerns. The Democrats did not want an outcome. They simply wanted to act like Tim Scott didn’t exist and to and to blame us somehow for being insensitive to acting on this important public concern.”

Listen To The Full Interview Below:

Full Transcript Below:
Guy Benson: The Dow down seven hundred and thirty points at the close up in New York six minutes ago, closing at twenty five thousand and fifteen. Lots of concerns and worries related to Corona virus, a topic to which we will return later in the program. Please, right now to welcome back to the show. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky. Senator, good to have you back.

Leader McConnell: Glad To Be with You guy.

Guy Benson: Let’s start with what happened in the upper chamber a few days ago. You put Senator Scott’s bill on the floor, Tim Scott. We had him on this program in our first hour today. And this was an opportunity for Democrats and Republicans to proceed to debate and add potentially amendments up or down votes on changes to a police reform bill, something that Democrats had been demanding happen by July 4th. You all said, yes, let’s do it. Let’s start here. And the Democrats said, no, we’re not even going to start today. Your counterpart on the other side of the aisle, Chuck Schumer, pointed to the partizan Democratic bill that they just passed out of the House yesterday. And he is insisting that now that is what must happen. You must bring the Democrats bill to the floor. He’s not willing to talk about Tim Scott’s bill. Your reaction to the brand new demand from Senator Schumer?

Leader McConnell: Well, he’s basically trying to run the Senate, and you don’t get to do that as majority minority leader, the majority leader gets to decide what you’re gonna bring up. And Tim Scott had led. An effort on our part to come up with a responsible police reform bill that could actually become law. And as you reported on your show, they wouldn’t let us vote on it in the Senate. There’s a procedural vote to move to legislation that requires 60 votes. They wouldn’t even let us take it up. So what he’s saying, in effect, is he wants to dictate the content and therefore, presumably the outcome as the minority leader. What nonsense He’s not interested in making a law. He’s intrested in making a point. He’s trying to que this up for the fall election in order to portray us as uninterested and in responding to the legitimate concerns the American people have in the wake of the murder of George Foyd and Briona Taylor and my and in my hometown. It’s. Typical Chuck Schumer.

Guy Benson: So he mentioned today that the vote in the House was bipartisan. He’s portraying the House bill as bipartisan, as I mentioned earlier in the show. There were zero Republican amendments even allowed on the House floor. Only three members on the Republican side voted for this bill with Nancy Pelosi’s crew last night. I will point out that there were three senators on the Democratic side who voted with Republicans to advance the process. But that wasn’t, I guess, bipartisan, according to Chuck Schumer. Here’s my question, because sometimes we can get bogged down in Senate procedure. You understand it literally better than anyone. People may sort of have their eyes glaze over, but if the Democrats had allowed this debate to move forward, Senator Scott was offering 20 amendments. Let’s have up or down votes. We can reshape the bill and and make some changes to it. It’s my understanding, Senator, that if they had gone through that process, had the debates, had the votes on amendments and were still unhappy with the end product, they could have filibustered or blocked this bill at the next step. So there was another opportunity even for them to obstruct it. If that’s true, why do you think they wouldn’t even allow the debate to begin on Senator Scott’s bill?

Leader McConnell: It’s hard to understand because they gave away nothing they could have you pointed out you could at the end. The bill would have required 60 votes to pass it. So 60 votes to take it up it takes 60 votes to pass it. It tells you, Guy, that they didn’t want an outcome They wanted issue and they want to portray us as insensitive and not responsive to the whole effort of police reform. And I think by picking Senator Scott, the only African-American Republican in the Senate who crafted the bill, it makes it very hard for them to convincingly argue that somehow we didn’t want an outcome. Goodness gracious.

Guy Benson: And they also and just just to reiterate the point, they insisted Schumer starting June 1st, I had the clips from him, the quotes. June 1st, he started saying it is incumbent on you, Mitch McConnell, to get a bill on this issue to the floor by July 4th. You attempted to do that this week and they wouldn’t even allow it to get to the floor. And it just it really feels particularly cynical, even by my very cynical standards. And on that point, I asked Senator Scott about this in the first hour. Your speech yesterday alleged that Chuck Schumer and I think we’ve also seen some quotes from Speaker Pelosi as well. It seems like there is a strategy afoot to wipe Tim Scott out of this conversation completely. They don’t want him to be associated with the effort for some of the reasons that you I think we’re just alluding to. Your thoughts on what you noted yesterday in your speech that Chuck Schumer was barely even acknowledging the existence of Tim Scott while, in your words, trashing the bill that he wrote.

Leader McConnell: Well, it was an inconvenient truth for Chuck Schumer that Tim Scott was the author of the bill. And so he tried to air brush him out. But he referred to it several times as the McConnell bill. It was it was a Scott bill that they refused to allow to come up. Someone who has experience exactly the kind of police, selective enforcement that we are all witness in the most severe form with the murder of George Ford. So total, total hypocrite. We did try to take the bill out before the Fourth of July. We were responding to people’s legitimate concerns. The Democrats did not want an outcome. They simply wanted to act like Tim Scott didn’t exist and to and to blame us somehow for being insensitive to acting on this important public concern.

Guy Benson: Senator McConnell, you changed your vote at the very last minute, which is a procedural mechanism that allows you to bring it up again if you want to. Is there anything that you’re seeing behind the scenes in discussions or what have you that gives you any optimism that there are some folks over on the other side of the aisle who might be softening at all, not going along with this strategy from leadership and might be willing to actually have this debate and and have these votes.

Leader McConnell: Well I Hope So you make three Democrats do not vote with Schumer, they did vote to go to the bill. Presumably they wanted to get an outcome. We would need more than three. But at least we’re within shouting distance of 60. And we’ll see how well Schumer can do. And keeping his members who would like to see the matter addressed. From doing anything at all.

Guy Benson: OK. Let’s hit a few other topics in the few moments that we have remaining big milestone in your leadership this week. Two hundred federal judges confirmed that were appointed and nominated by President Trump, confirmed by the U.S. Senate number 200 just a few days ago. Your reflection on that achievement?

Leader McConnell: It’s the single most important long term contribution we’ve been able to make to the country. Circuit judges are particularly important. We did the 53 Circuit judge this week. There are no vacancies. Not a single circuit court vacancy anywhere in America. We’ve done 53 and three and a half years. President Obama did 55 in eight years. It’s the lasting contribution we’ve put in place, young men and women who believe in the quiet notion that maybe a judge actually ought to follow the law.

Guy Benson: On that note, you were able to do so with such alacrity because your one of your predecessors, Harry Reid, who I see is out there, was some new conspiratorial nonsense yesterday, by the way, about the Russians changing votes or something. But he blew up the filibuster. You warned him not to do it. He did it anyway with his Democratic colleagues. And you’ve used the Reid rule to, as you say, install and confirm 200 judges. Now, we’re starting to get an inkling from even guys like Chris Coons that if they get the Senate back after November, they might try to blow up the legislative filibuster for 15 seconds. Do you think that they would actually at least attempt that if they win the majority?

Leader McConnell: I wouldn’t be surprised. They don’t have much respect for the institution. The executive calendar, that is nominations had always been handled with a simple majority anyway. Until about fifteen years ago when the Democrats started filibustering Judge George W. Bush’s nominees. So going back to a simple majority on the executive calendar that is appointments was not a dramatic change in the Senate changing the filibuster rule. It would be a totally dramatic change to turn the Senate and the House. President Trump honestly tried to get me to do that a couple of times. I said, no….

Guy Benson: Senator. We’ve got to run, we’re out of time. But that’s Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, on the Guy Benson Show. Senator. Thank you. We’ll be right back.