Hopes for a Republican Senate majority have all but been extinguished after the critical race in Arizona was called late Friday for Democrat incumbent Sen. Mark Kelly, leaving only the races in Georgia and Nevada still in play as criticism of Mitch McConnell intensifies, including from former President Donald J. Trump.
The looming likelihood of a Democrat-controlled Senate albeit one with a 51-vote majority has once again provided fodder for critics of the way that elections are conducted, specifically in Arizona and Nevada where the counting will drag on into next week, ample time for additional ballots to materialize. But even more problematic than the highly suspect process is the fact that McConnell reportedly failed to provide adequate support to Republican candidate Blake Masters.
Shortly before his race was called against him, Masters appeared on Fox News where he discussed the inexcusable problems in Arizona as well as slammed the Senate minority leader for his spending priorities.
“McConnell decided to spend millions of dollars attacking a fellow Republican in Alaska instead of helping me defeat Senator Mark Kelly,” Masters said, referring to RINO Lisa Murkowski’s opponent Kelly Tshibaka who is backed by Trump. “Had he chosen to spend money in Arizona, this race would be over, we’d be celebrating a Senate majority right now.”
(Video: Fox News)
“Let’s not vote Mitch McConnell into leadership, he doesn’t deserve to be majority leader or minority leader,” he added.
“You get a choice, you can stand with your constituents and stand with Americans or you can stand for Mitch McConnell,” he said, telling Carlson that if he ended up winning that he would not support the Kentucky Republican.
Carlson then asked what McConnell’s motivations might be for refusing to spend money in Arizona, a contest that is absolutely crucial to a GOP Senate majority.
Masters answered, “I will leave it to the viewer to decide whether it is just malice or whether it’s gross incompetence, but clearly Mitch McConnell cares about Mitch McConnell and less about a Senate majority or the people of America.”
“I think we need a change,” he said. “That’s why I ran for office and one way or another, change is coming.”
Also excoriating McConnell was Trump who took to his Truth Social platform to decry the shenanigans in Arizona and Nevada.
“Mitch McConnell, the Republicans Broken Down Senate Leader, does nothing about this. He’s too busy spending vast amounts of money on bad Senator Lisa M of Alaska, when Kelly S is FAR better. Should have fought and stopped the steal in 2020. Gave Dems 4 Trillion Dollars, never used Debt Ceiling. He is the WORST!” Trump wrote.
(Image: Screengrab/Truth Social)
Compounding McConnell’s problems is what appears to be a brewing revolt against him by his fellow GOP Senators with Florida’s Marco Rubio calling for next week’s Senate leadership election to be postponed with what many have interpreted as a jab at the man who snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
“The Senate GOP leadership vote next week should be postponed,” Rubio wrote on Twitter. “First we need to make sure that those who want to lead us are genuinely committed to fighting for the priorities & values of the working Americans (of every background) who gave us big wins in states like #Florida.”
The Senate GOP leadership vote next week should be postponed
First we need to make sure that those who want to lead us are genuinely committed to fighting for the priorities & values of the working Americans (of every background) who gave us big wins in states like #Florida
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) November 11, 2022
While McConnell will have plenty of defenders among his fellow RINOs, the failure to capitalize on public anger over the disastrous leadership of President Joe Biden will only embolden critics who want him out before he sinks GOP chances in 2024 as well.
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