Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is embracing Democratic presidential candidates’ portrayal of him as a boogeyman of the right.
“Being criticized for stopping the liberal agenda and confirming conservative judges, I love it … the things they are criticizing me for, I plead guilty to,” he told reporters Thursday morning when asked about the first night of the Democratic presidential debates.
{mosads}McConnell has described himself as the “Grim Reaper” of liberal proposals such as “Medicare for All” and the Green New Deal.
McConnell was mentioned repeatedly during Wednesday’s debate as Democratic candidates said the best way to deal with him is to defeat his party at the polls and relegate him to Senate minority leader. He is also up for reelection next year.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said during the event that she has a plan for dealing with McConnell.
“I do,” she said. “We are a democracy, and the way a democracy is supposed to work is the will of the people matters.
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), meanwhile, stressed the importance of Democrats winning back the Senate.
And Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) urged Democrats to pick a blue-collar candidate to target McConnell directly.
“If you want to beat Mitch McConnell, this better be a working-class party. If you want to go into Kentucky and take his rear end out and [Sen.] Lindsey Graham [R-S.C.] out, you have to have a blue-collar party to go into the textile communities in South Carolina,” he said.
There’s also growing animosity among Democrats not running for president.
Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) tweeted during the debate: “The way to deal with Mitch McConnell is to win the Senate.”