Appearing on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell distanced himself from comments alleged president Donald Trump made to Fox News as part of an interview that will air prior to Super Bowl 51. In the Fox interview, Trump responded to Bill O’Reilly calling Russian President Vladimir Putin “a killer” by saying:
“We’ve got a lot of killers. What do you think? Our country’s so innocent?”
McConnell, however, was far less complimentary of Putin, saying of the Russian mass murderer:
“Putin is a former KGB agent, he’s a thug, he was not elected in a way that most people would consider a credible election.
“No, I don’t think there is any equivalency between the way the Russians conduct themselves and the way the United States does.”
“I can speak for myself, and I already have about my feelings about Vladimir Putin and the way the Russians operate. I’m not going to critique every utterance of the president. I obviously don’t see this issue the same way he does.”
Asked about Trump’s criticism of federal judge James L. Robart, who issued a temporary restraining order against the Muslim ban Trump declared via executive order, McConnell commented:
“I think it’s best not to single out judges for criticism. We all get disappointed from time to time at the outcome in courts on things that we care about, but I think it’s best to avoid criticizing judges individually.”
Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse concurred with McConnell, telling ABC News:
“I’ll be honest, I don’t understand language like that. We don’t have so-called judges, we don’t have so-called senators, we don’t have so-called presidents, we have people from three different branches of government who take an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution.”
Correction, Senator Sasse: We do indeed have a so-called president. One that lost by 3 million votes and with the help of the Russian intelligence service. One who refuses to act presidential. We have a braying jackass pretending to be a human being and residing in the White House. But that too is subject to change once impeachment begins.
Featured Image Via CNN
