Scarborough calls McConnell ‘Moscow Mitch,’ says lack of action on Russian meddling is ‘un-American’

MSNBC host Joe Scarborough on Friday lashed out at Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, calling him “Moscow Mitch” over his inaction on legislation to address Russian election interference.

Scarborough made the comments about the Kentucky Republican during a segment on “Morning Joe” after McConnell blocked two election security measures. The hashtag #MoscowMitch quickly began trending on Twitter following his comments.

Scarborough, a former GOP lawmaker, called McConnell’s actions “un-American.” 

“How can Moscow Mitch so willingly turn a blind eye not only this year to what his Republican chairman of the Intel Committee is saying, to what Robert Mueller is saying, to what the FBI director is saying, to what the DNI [director of national intelligence] is saying, to what the CIA is saying, to what the United States military intel community is saying,” Scarborough asked.

{mosads}“How can Moscow Mitch keep denying that [Russian President] Vladimir Putin continues to try to subvert American democracy?”

Scarborough accused McConnell of “aiding and abetting Vladimir Putin’s ongoing attempts to subvert American democracy” and said it was “un-American” for McConnell to block the Senate from taking up election security legislation. 

“He is aiding & abetting Putin’s ongoing attempts to subvert U.S. democracy, according to the Republican FBI, CIA, DNI…All Republicans are saying Russia is trying to subvert U.S. democracy & Moscow Mitch won’t even let the Senate take a vote on it. That is un-American.–@JoeNBC pic.twitter.com/vV1TekFgHF

— Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) July 26, 2019

The nickname took off on social media, with more than 65,000 tweets mentioning the nickname on social media as of Friday morning.

If you kill two election security bills you should be arrested for treason before the day is out. #MoscowMitch

— Elayne Boosler (@ElayneBoosler) July 26, 2019

Mitch McConnell blocked two bills to increase security for our upcoming 2020 election. Evidently, #MoscowMitch does not think Trump can win without Russia’s help.

— Andrea Junker (@Strandjunker) July 26, 2019

Thanks to #MoscowMitch for making our elections less safe… pic.twitter.com/GAi7tnaLQE

— Fred Crow Jr. (@Teamster160) July 26, 2019

#MoscowMitch helped a Russian oligarch donor by easing Russia subscribe against his partner, Paul Manafort’s top Kremlin connection.

Today, he killed two election security bills.

Putin bought him for thirty pieces of MAGA-stamped silver.https://t.co/5QldNAzKa9

— Grant Stern (@grantstern) July 26, 2019

Hey #MoscowMitch, Did you know #45isapuppet? We do. pic.twitter.com/NYQFCD50JG

— Sam (@slipperyhero) July 26, 2019

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Thursday tried to get consent to pass a House bill that requires the use of paper ballots and includes funding for the Election Assistance Commission. It passed the House 225-184, with one Republican voting for it.

But McConnell objected to the bill and accused Schumer of pushing “partisan legislation.” 

Under the Senate’s rules, any one senator can request consent to pass a bill, but any one senator can object.

The Senate majority leader then objected when Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) asked for consent to pass legislation that would require candidates, campaign officials and their family members to notify the FBI of assistance offers from foreign governments.

McConnell’s block came after former special counsel Robert Mueller warned about continued Russian interference in U.S. elections during his Wednesday congressional hearings. 

“We are expecting them to do it again during the next campaign,” Mueller said.

Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday also released its long-awaited bipartisan report on Russian meddling in the 2016 election. 

Among the key findings of the report, the committee writes that “the Russian government directed extensive activity, beginning in at least 2014 and carrying into at least 2017, against U.S. election infrastructure at the state and local level.”

The report also assessed that all 50 states were targeted in 2016 in some way.