Story highlights
Mitch McConnell made the case that the Congress is working as it should
The Senate majority leader said the President has created 'artificial deadlines'
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell offered some of his toughest criticism yet for President Donald Trump in a speech Monday to a Rotary Group in northern Kentucky.
McConnell, who has been relatively measured in his previous critiques of the White House, argued the President’s approach to the legislative process is leading to an inaccurate impression of how Congress works.
“Our new president, of course, has not been in this line of work before,” said McConnell according to CNN affiliate WCPO which covered the event. “I think he had excessive expectations about how quickly things happen in the democratic process.”
McConnell made the case that the Congress is working as it should and that voters should allow the process to play itself out before passing judgment.
“Part of the reason I think people think we’re under-performing is because of too many artificial deadlines unrelated to the reality of the legislature which may have not been understood.”
McConnell has been frustrated by what he considers the President’s lack of understanding about the way Congress works before. After Trump chided Senate Republicans in a July 29 tweet to change Senate rules to allow legislation to pass with only 51 votes, McConnell pushed back pointing out that even if they wanted to change the long standing rules, the will was not there in his Republican conference.
“The votes are simply not there,” McConnell said earlier this month.
And while McConnell told the audience Monday that he believes the lines of communication between the executive and legislative branch remain strong, he did admit that he wished the President would tweet less and stay on message more.
“I’ve been and I will be again today, not a fan of tweeting and I’ve said that to him privately,” McConnell said. “I think it would be helpful if the President would be a little more on message.”
A CNN poll released Tuesday shows a majority (52%) of those surveyed agree with McConnell, saying Trump’s tweets are not an effective way for the President to share his views on important issues, and 72% of those polled say the tweets do not send the right message to other world leaders.
