You know things are going poorly for a Democratic candidate when they skip out on even an MSNBC interview.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s challenger, Amy McGrath, was scheduled to appear Sunday evening for an interview with MSNBC’s Kasie Hunt. But after flip-flopping this week on a question about Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, as well as bombing a CNN interview that saw her struggle to explain controversial past statements, McGrath’s handlers must have decided that one final interview for the week was a bad idea.
The Kentucky Senate candidate at the last minute canceled her MSNBC appearance, much to Hunt’s visible irritation.
“I was planning on asking McGrath about [her 2018 House] race and her fight against Mitch McConnell tonight but she canceled her appearance on our show at the last minute,” MSNBC’s Capitol Hill correspondent explained on-air during her show Kasie DC.
Hunt, whose show had hyped the Democratic candidate’s scheduled interview, added, “That invitation does remain open, and, of course, Mr. Leader, we would welcome you, Senator McConnell, any time as well.”
Kentucky’s Amy Mcgrath canceled her appearance on MSNBC tonight at the last minute after a rough campaign launch this week w/ her flip-flopping on Kavanaugh.
pic.twitter.com/j4JltnD0cj— Alex Thompson (@AlxThomp) July 15, 2019
I do not blame McGrath’s team for keeping her away from cameras, even friendly ones.
Last Tuesday, just one day after she announced her intention to unseat McConnell, McGrath was asked by CNN’s Jake Tapper to explain her 2017 comparison between the election of Donald Trump and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, which claimed the lives of about 3,000 Americans. It did not go well for McGrath. At all.
“Well, what I was talking about was the fact that, you know, nobody really expected President Trump to win. And I was talking also about the entire 2016 cycle,” McGrath said. “Many of us were spurred into action by what happened in 2016, the labeling of each other as, ‘They’re all communist or they’re all this or they’re all that.’ And the fake news, the divisiveness of our country was something I had never seen before.”
That clears up exactly nothing.
Later, just two days after announcing her Senate campaign, McGrath reversed her position from last year and said she “probably would have voted” to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. But then she recanted almost immediately after the Louisville Courier-Journal reported her remarks, meaning she flipped and then flopped and then flipped again on the Kavanaugh question.
“I was asked earlier today about Judge Brett Kavanaugh and I answered based upon his qualifications to be on the Supreme Court. But upon further reflection and further understanding of his record, I would have voted no,” McGrath tweeted last Wednesday, adding, “I know I disappointed many today with my initial answer on how I would have voted on Brett Kavanaugh. I will make mistakes and always own up to them. The priority is defeating Mitch McConnell.”
The cherry on top of McGrath canceling her Sunday interview at the last minute is that it was Hunt who said of McGrath’s candidacy when it was first announced, “This is going to be a blockbuster race.”
If by “blockbuster” Hunt meant “get the popcorn,” then yes, it is going to be a blockbuster race.
