Former Minnesota Sen. Al Franken defended Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell from the recent moniker “Moscow Mitch.”
McConnell faced backlash for stopping two Democratic election reform bills last week. In response, MSNBC host Joe Scarborough coined the nickname and used it nearly 30 times on his show Friday. Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank then argued that McConnell “is a Russian asset.”
Franken discussed McConnell with MSNBC news analyst Howard Fineman on his podcast “The Al Franken Podcast.”
In a tweet promoting the interview with Fineman, which was filmed before the nickname surfaced, Franken said, “I’d never say such a thing. Why, he’s the Majority Leader of the US Senate!”
Is #MoscowMitch Moscow’s Bitch? I’d never say such a thing. Why, he’s the Majority Leader of the US Senate! @HowardFineman joins me on the podcast to discuss the man he’s been covering for decades. If you’re not subscribed to our YouTube channel, pls do! https://t.co/NYXgDgvp60
— Al Franken (@alfranken) July 31, 2019
Despite his defense of the nickname, the former senator criticized the McConnell for not passing the bill to begin with.
Franken said, “Republicans don’t want fair elections, we all know that. They try to make it as hard as possible for certain people to vote. When they gerrymander they stuff as many Democrats as they can into a congressional district so it’s 90% Democratic. So Republicans can have all these safe 60/40 districts around the state.”
“Mitch McConnell stopped a bill that would prevent foreign countries from hacking our elections. A bill that would require paper ballots, so that we’ll have a physical record of every vote,” he continued before joking that McConnell will be getting “work done” during the August recess so that he will have “the tight jawline of a college freshman.”
Trump was asked about the characterization made by Milbank, and he retorted that “I think the Washington Post is a Russian asset by comparison. Mitch McConnell loves our country. He’s done a great job.”
