Nancy Pelosi Trolls Mitch McConnell By Calling Him ‘Moscow Mitch,’ The Nickname He Loathes
Nancy Pelosi is taking aim at her Republican congressional counterpart, invoking Mitch McConnell’s most-hated nickname in trolling the senate majority leader.
Pelosi referred to McConnell as “Moscow Mitch” in attacking him for blocking a number of bills passed through the House of Representatives, including bipartisan measures aimed at shoring up election security amidst ongoing attacks from Russia. Speaking to the Illinois Democratic County Chairs’ Association on Wednesday, Pelosi noted that McConnell tried to give himself the nickname “Grim Reaper” for the legislation he has killed, but she thought another moniker was more fitting.
“We’ve sent our legislation to the Senate. Moscow Mitch says that he is the Grim Reaper. Imagine describing yourself as the Grim Reaper, that he’s going to bury all this legislation,” Pelosi said, via The Hill. “Well, we have news for him. All this legislation is alive and well in the general public.”
The remarks represented one of Pelosi’s most direct attacks on McConnell for blocking legislation. Democrats have passed along a number of measures including gun reform that has died in the Senate under McConnell.
McConnell’s opponents adopted the nickname “Moscow Mitch” after the refused to allow the election security measures to get a vote on the U.S. Senate floor, attacking them as attempts by Democrats to gain a political advantage. Though McConnell is normally unflappable in the face of opposition, the nickname appeared to strike a nerve as he took to the Senate floor to call it “modern-day McCarthyism.”
“I was called unpatriotic, un-American and essentially treasonous by a couple of left-wing pundits on the basis of bold-faced lies. I was accused of aiding and abetting the very man I’ve singled out as an adversary and opposed for nearly 20 years, Vladimir Putin,” McConnell said.
But as Mitch McConnell reacted against the nickname, opponents only dug deeper in using it against him. McConnell was met with chants of “Moscow Mitch” as he tried to speak at a public event in Kentucky, with protesters carrying signs showing McConnell wearing a traditional Russian hat.
Mitch McConnell quietly crawled back to Kentucky this weekend to hide from calls for gun reform and election security legislation.
His speech at a local event was completely drowned out by #MoscowMitch chants.
You can't hide, Senator.
Video via @wkms pic.twitter.com/92qzbF2VqS
— Public Citizen (@Public_Citizen) August 7, 2019
Mitch McConnell has become a prime target of the left after his attempts to stymie former president Barack Obama’s presidency by blocking legislation and refusing to allow the Senate to conduct hearings for Obama’s Supreme Court nominee. McConnell said that a president should not be allowed to fill court vacancies during their last year in office, saying instead that voters should get to decide. The seat ended up being filled by Donald Trump after his election in 2016.
