Mitch McConnell Is Asked Why Republicans 'Hate' Him

Jonathan Swan asked Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) during an Axios NewsShapers interview on Thursday why Republicans hate him.

“You’re the most powerful elected Republican in Washington, DC,” Swan prefaced the question. “And despite all the BS I hear around, there is no obvious challenge to your leadership.”

“People would like to gin it up, but there isn’t,” Swan said about reports of Sen. Rick Scott’s (R-FL) intention to dislodge McConnell as Senate minority leader.

“And yet recent polls show your approval ratings are in the 30s among Republicans, not Democrats — Republicans,” Swan continued.

“Why do they hate you?” he asked.

McConnell first chuckled with some discomfort on his face. “My job is not to run up political popularity nationally,” McConnell answered. “I’m not running for anything nationally,” he said about the legislative body that holds huge national power.

Swan followed up and noted that McConnell’s approval rating is much lower than other congressional leaders. 

McConnell responded by suggesting his approval rating is so low because he is a great leader:

.@jonathanvswan: “Recent polls show your approval rating is in the 30s among Republicans…Why do they hate you?”

Mitch McConnell: “My job is not to run up political popularity nationally…The 2 constituents that matter to me are the people at home and the people in the Senate” pic.twitter.com/bD5icSMol6

— Axios (@axios) April 7, 2022

Under McConnell’s Senate leadership, the national debt has risen by nearly $20 billion, illegal immigration has continued, and real wages for American workers have not grown since the 1970s. Obamacare was enacted in 2010, big banks were bailed out in 2008, and social media companies have silenced individuals without repercussions. In October, McConnell caved to Democrats’ demands and raised the debt ceiling, enabling Democrats to forward President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better agenda.

McConnell’s record has multiple Senate candidates, some of which he is actively working against, opposing his reelection to the GOP Senate leadership after the midterms.

Senate candidate and former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens, Alaskan Senate candidate Kelly Tshibaka, and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) have all stated they will not support McConnell for the leadership position if Republicans retake control of the Senate following the midterms.

McConnell has also noted during the interview that he is having his career documented in a biography written by the New York Times and Associated Press.

The book will focus on “one of the most guarded and powerful actors in the nation’s capital … one of the most consequential political figures of this century,” or so the report dubbed McConnell. Excerpts of the book will reportedly include “extensive interviews with McConnell and access to his vast archive — his receipts.”

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