Mitch McConnell probably isn’t going anywhere. The Senate Majority leader is currently handily beating Amy McGrath, the Kentucky Democrat challenging his seat, so he’s likely not sweating it the way his friend Lindsey Graham is. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t inspiring the same level of ire. In some circles he’s viewed with the same level of animosity as Donald Trump. And on Monday, new clips of him acting particularly evil went viral.
McConnell was partaking in the first and only debate against McGrath, and despite being down in the polls, his competitor came ready to fight. She pummeled him over his failure to pass a new coronavirus relief package. She took him to task for creating “a Senate that is so dysfunction and so partisan that even in the middle of a national crisis he can’t get it done.” And through it all, during each and every critique, McConnell kept laughing.
FIVE times, @senatemajldr LAUGHED OFF questions regarding COVID during tonight's #KYSen Debate.
It's obvious that Mitch McConnell isn't taking this election, COVID, or KY voters seriously. pic.twitter.com/pnaTR78yWi
— Kelsie Taggart (@kelsientaggart) October 13, 2020
There was one laugh that stood out more than the rest. McGrath torched McConnell for allowing a Senate vacation to happen over the summer, before they reached a deal on how to help ailing families. She pointed out that this is “the first time in a century, where we have a major international crisis where no one in the world is looking to the United States for leadership.” And as she spoke McConnell kept laughing..
https://twitter.com/donmoyn/status/1315810457110958081
On one hand, laughing off your opponent’s critiques isn’t exclusive to either party. Joe Biden has regularly used it, including during his debate with Donald Trump two weeks prior. But the accusations Biden was laughing off were not equal to the ones McGrath was throwing at McConnell’s feet. And while McConnell may have been laughing at what he saw as her inaccuracies — he soon claimed they weren’t on “vacation,” that they kept lines of communication up — for some, it seemed as though what he was really doing was showing people who he really was.
👇👇👇👇👇👇 https://t.co/42nBE77F59
— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) October 13, 2020
Some singled out his diabolical laugh.
https://twitter.com/zachbraff/status/1315823040001835008
How many more times does @senatemajldr Mitch McConnell have to laugh at a woman before EVER SINGLE WOMAN votes this F dinosaur out of office? https://t.co/iEj4s0FQHN
— Don Winslow (@donwinslow) October 13, 2020
Many were furious.
Ain’t a damn thing funny.
Our loved ones are losing everything. Kentucky is being crushed.
He finds it amusing. I find him despicable. https://t.co/5xZFhPsdpk
— Charles Booker (@Booker4KY) October 13, 2020
Mitch McConnell LAUGHS when called out for his lack of action on COVID. #KYSen
"If you want to call yourself a leader you got to get things done." pic.twitter.com/dHbXDf28OQ
— Kelsie Taggart (@kelsientaggart) October 12, 2020
https://twitter.com/LesleyAnnBrandt/status/1315824104843304960
What the fuck is McConnell laughing about? This is not fucking funny, Mitch. https://t.co/wLSZrcOnx6
— Holly Figueroa O'Reilly 🌸 (@AynRandPaulRyan) October 13, 2020
Some compared him to fictional villains.
Here's Mitch McConnell laughing like Confederate Voldemort at dead doctors, nurses, teachers, first line workers, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, husbands, wives and children. pic.twitter.com/YsWgrH3ELk
— Randi Mayem Singer (@rmayemsinger) October 13, 2020
Or to fictional but at least somewhat nicer vampires.
— Zack Bornstein (@ZackBornstein) October 13, 2020
Some tried to use humor to redirect their anger.
215,000 dead Americans. Millions out of work. Turtle laughs. https://t.co/WAxSXcrdp6
— Fred Wellman (@FPWellman) October 13, 2020
Some wondered how the Kentucky voters put up with someone who would laugh as he was criticized for not taking care of struggling Americans during a pandemic.
Wow … how do Kentuckians keep re-electing someone who drips with so much contempt for them, for their lives and health, and for the elections process? I truly don't get it, Kentucky. Is this your king?? https://t.co/wX9Reh6He9
— Mkay (@JoyAnnReid) October 13, 2020
And while, again, McConnell may not be losing his seat in the Senate, in a few weeks his job may wind up looking very different.
You probably can’t beat him. But you sure can demote him. https://t.co/aHWVWBpZIA
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) October 13, 2020
For the record, it’s a laugh McConnell has used before. Witness this arguably even more chilling clip from old Hannity episode that made the rounds during the weekend, where he thinks that when he stuffed the courts with Trump posts — the very thing conservatives are terrified Biden and company will do if elected — is really hilarious.
WATCH: Mitch McConnell has the CREEPIEST laugh after he GLOATS about blocking President Obama's federal court nominees in the last two years of his presidency.
WOW. McConnell is so openly hypocritical. ENJOY it while it LASTS #MoscowMitch 😡💔pic.twitter.com/R0lqjhePJc
— Peter Morley (@morethanmySLE) October 11, 2020
(Via The Hill)