'Completely lost touch': Rick Scott accuses 'establishment' McConnell of 'undermining' Republicans

31 January 2024

Conservative Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) has been pushing for a bipartisan deal that would tie security at the U.S./Mexico border to military aid to Ukraine. But former President Donald Trump and his far-right MAGA allies have been voicing their opposition to such a deal — including Sen. Rick Scott (R-Florida), who has been railing against McConnell's proposal while reiterating his loyalty to Trump.

In a MAGA-themed op-ed published by The Hill on January 30, Scott attacked McConnell for "preserving a Republican Party in Washington that has completely lost touch with our voters and the real world."

Scott claimed, in his op-ed, that McConnell's proposals are helpful to President Joe Biden and praised Trump's immigration policies. And Scott wrote that "Mitch McConnell and the Washington establishment" have failed "to secure the border."

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This was hardly the first time Scott has voiced his animosity for McConnell, who he unsuccessfully tried to replace as GOP leader in the U.S. Senate.

Journalist Emily Jacobs, reporting for the conservative Washington Examiner, explained, "McConnell, Ukraine's staunchest GOP ally since Russia launched its war, has said he supports the supplemental as long as it includes 'credible' border policy changes. That has put him at odds, however, with former President Donald Trump, who has come out against the border deal."

Jacobs notes that a "bipartisan working group of senators" has "been negotiating since the fall on a border security deal that would unlock Ukraine funding, but also, assistance for Israel and Taiwan."

"Negotiators on both sides have acknowledged that the border measure is critical to passing the legislation through both chambers," Jacobs reports. "McConnell has already faced multiple efforts by Ukraine skeptics in his conference to push a stand-alone Israel aid bill through the chamber that was repeatedly blocked."

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