A Biden presidency may not be so bad for Mitch McConnell. In fact, it may be just what he wanted all along.
The 2020 presidential race isn’t over yet. But with the real possibility of a Biden White House on the horizon due to the Democrat’s leads in several key states (the nature of which has raised widespread concerns about voter fraud), America may find itself with a divided government— Democrats in control of the White House and House while Republicans control the Senate.
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It seems like a recipe for an inert, lame-duck presidency (which, considering the radical socialist nature of Biden’s platform, wouldn’t be a bad thing).
But a look at the relationship between Joe Biden and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), as detailed in a recent Politico piece, suggests that the two would collaborate more than one might think.
The outlet notes:
And perhaps most importantly, Biden and McConnell have a real relationship — forged over the years as Senate colleagues and combatants. McConnell was the only Senate Republican to attend the funeral for Biden’s son Beau in 2015, and he’s largely stayed away from GOP attacks on Biden’s other son, Hunter.
“They have negotiated big things before. They’ve come through some very hard and even bitter fights over judicial confirmations,” Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), a close Biden ally, said in an interview. “But I think they’ve managed to stay friends or have a working, professional relationship even in the hardest of times.” …
McConnell referred to Biden on Wednesday as his “old friend.” And he paid public tribute to Biden during a 2016 speech just before the vice president left office, calling him a “trusted partner.” In 2011, Biden appeared at the McConnell Center in Kentucky, observing that the audience wants “to see whether or not a Republican and Democrat really like one another. Well, I’m here to tell you we do.”
Biden and McConnell, for instance, negotiated the “fiscal cliff” deal to raise taxes and cut spending in 2012. Those who have worked with Biden closely, such as Obama’s Defense secretary, Chuck Hagel, and former McConnell domestic policy advisor Rohit Kumar, claim that Biden is a better negotiator and better understands the workings of the Senate than Obama did.
McConnell himself won reelection in this cycle. He defeated Democrat Amy McGrath, a former fighter pilot who flew in combat for the Marines Corps. She became one of the top fundraisers of any Senate candidate on the ballot in 2020, outraising McConnell with a total haul of roughly $90 million compared to the Republican incumbent’s $57 million as of October 14, but all to no avail.
Of the current tensions regarding the 2020 presidential election, McConnell has said that “of course” there will be a peaceful transfer of power if Joe Biden wins. “We’ve had a peaceful transfer of power going back to 1792, every four years, we’ve moved on to a new administration.”
In a statement, the Republican leader said: “Here’s how this must work in our great country: Every legal vote should be counted. Any illegally-submitted ballots must not. All sides must get to observe the process. And the courts are here to apply the laws & resolve disputes. That’s how Americans’ votes decide the result.”
The statement straddled the line between affirming the need for an honest election and flat-out alleging voter fraud.
The safeness of McConnell’s statement brings to mind the words of Donald Trump, Jr., who this week chastised potential 2024 Republican presidential candidates for being slow to come to the support of President Trump as he grapples with a potential Biden win under suspicious terms.
President Trump has often complimented McConnell, and the pair appear to get along in public. Yet it is likely a marriage of convenience; the Majority Leader is a longtime Washington insider who has delivered the president some major wins (such as the confirmation of his Supreme Court nominees), yet also dragged his feet on helping accomplish many of President Trump’s major campaign promises back when Republicans held both houses of Congress.
Could it be that while McConnell publicly cheerleads for a Trump win, he’d really be happier with a Joe Biden victory? Then he and other establishment Republicans could slide back into the easy role of complaining about the actions of the Democrat president without actually having to do anything — while making plenty of unconstitutional big government “deals” along the way.
