Just minutes after the Senate voted 50-48 to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court Saturday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told Fox News he’s actually grateful to the hysterical left-wing protesters who spent the past few days accosting Republican senators in the halls of Congress, explaining the past few weeks have actually helped fire up a previously lethargic GOP base heading into the midterms.
McConnell criticized what he described as a “nasty process” to confirm Kavanaugh, but added that in the end, he’s actually happy things went the way they did.
“We’ve literally been under assault here by a mob that’s going to our homes, brushing up against us in the halls, requiring enhanced security. But look, the good news is the mob didn’t win. Justice will be done. We protected the presumption of innocence in this country. It applies in all walks of life and certainly in Supreme Court confirmations,” McConnell said.
When asked about the hoards of angry protesters that stormed Capitol Hill over the past several weeks, spurred on by mass media attention and Democrats’ dog whistling, McConnell said he’s actually glad it happened.
“Well look, I’m…in retrospect I’m kind of glad they did it. Because what it’s done is one thing we were unable to do ourselves, which is to fire up our own base going into the election a month from now. Nothing turns Republicans of all stripes, whether they’re Bush Republicans or Trump Republicans, on like a court fight. And they played right into our hands in retrospect, turned this into an issue, put it front and center going into the election.
“So as unpleasant as it’s been, it’s been worth it,” he said. “They made a tactical mistake that really helped me unify my conference and turn on the Republican base going into the election. Maybe I ought to say ‘thank you.”