01.20.22

ICYMI: McConnell on ‘Special Report with Bret Baier’

WASHINGTON, D.C.U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) joined Bret Baier this evening on Fox News’ Special Report with Bret Baier. Click here to watch the full interview or see below for highlights:

On Russian Threats to Ukraine:

“Let’s just focus on the one thing that was the most disturbing that was already covered in your set-up piece. And that was a potential signal to the Russians that it's okay to take some of Ukraine. Now, I’m really glad the White House walked that back today. I hope Vladimir Putin doesn't misunderstand the message. No incursion into Ukraine is acceptable.

“What should he be doing about it right now? Well first, we ought to be sending anti-tank weapons to the Ukrainians, helping them learn how to use them, and ground-to-air missiles to go after the helicopters that might be a part, obviously, of any Russian incursion. As well as being ready to levy a level of sanctions the Russians have never experienced before. I think all this needs to be done before the invasion because once they are in there, it's very, very difficult to get them out.”

On President Biden’s First-Year Agenda:

“I helped him pass a bipartisan infrastructure bill. I supported him in in the Senate a bill to deal with China and the computer chip shortage. If the president starts acting like a moderate, like he campaigned, we can do business.

“The reason we have not been speaking recently this year is because he adopted the Bernie Sanders prescription for America. He did that even though he got no mandate for it, a 50/50 Senate and a couple seat majority in the House, and they couldn't get it through. And the reason they couldn't get it through: the American people are not for all of this. They thought they were electing a moderate.

“If the president wants to reinvent himself and come back to the middle, we have things to talk about that we can work on together.”

On the Democrats' Reckless Taxing and Spending Spree:

“Look, I don't think the American people are clamoring for any pieces of Build Back Better. They want us to tackle on the problems that they are concerned about. Inflation, at the top of the list. A wide open border. We have already discussed the threat against Ukraine. Those are the things the American people are thinking about. The president needs to sync up his plans with things people are interested in.

“They’ve been off on this toot on voting rights, for example. Well 94% of the American people think it's easy to vote right now. We had a record turn out last year, the highest turn out since 1900, 120 years ago. Nobody is being discriminated against in voting. The Voting Rights Act is still intact, passed in 1965. I actually was there to witness it as a young intern here on Capitol Hill.

“They are making this up. Why are they doing it? They want a federal takeover of how every election in America is conducted. That is not how this country has been run for over 200 years. It’s not what the American people are interested in having them do since 94% of them already think it's easy to vote.”

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