Protesters demonstrate outside McConnell’s Kentucky home
Protesters demonstrated outside Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R) home in Kentucky on Monday night, accusing the GOP leader of being unresponsive to their concerns.
Local television station WHAS 11 reported that demonstrators held signs and chanted slogans about a range of issues including immigration reform and LGBT rights, while accusing the senator of not responding to calls to his office.
{mosads}The ABC affiliate reported that 20-30 demonstrators attended the protest, while local police and private security prevented any from getting near the residence itself.
“Liberal activists like the Democratic Socialists of Louisville know how to try to create good street theatre, and as an avid supporter of the First Amendment, Senator McConnell believes that all citizens have the right to express their opinions peacefully. I hope Senator McConnell’s neighbors weren’t too inconvenienced,” a spokesperson for McConnell’s office told The Hill in an email.
The Senate GOP leader was at home over the weekend recovering after fracturing his shoulder. His office said Sunday that McConnell injured himself after tripping at home on his patio, adding that he was released after treatment and would be working from home.
Democrats in the House and Senate have hammered McConnell for weeks for not taking up a range of legislative issues that the GOP majority does not support, including bills that would expand background checks for gun purchases as well as others related to election security.
“We are not going to let Leader McConnell put the bills passed by the House into his legislative graveyard without a fight. You’re going to hear from us on this issue over and over again,” Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in July.
Monday night’s protests come after two mass shootings over the weekend that have left Democrats and some Republicans calling for stronger gun laws.
Democrats have voiced frustration before over McConnell declining to take up legislation related to other issues beyond gun control, such as climate change.
In April, McConnell quipped that he would act as the “grim reaper” for any legislation that he or the White House did not support, such as the progressive Green New Deal.
“If I’m still the majority leader in the Senate think of me as the Grim Reaper,” McConnell said at the time. “None of that stuff is going to pass.”
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