Mitch McConnell admits he doesn’t have the votes
There are only three ways to answer a “yes” or “no” question – and if you go with the third option, it’s always because you can’t answer it with a “yes” or “no.” The other day, frequent liar Mitch McConnell insisted he had the votes to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, and for some strange reason, a lot of people on both sides believed him. But when McConnell was asked again today if he had the votes, he admitted that he doesn’t.
McConnell was asked today if he had “fifty votes” for Kavanaugh. His answer: “I believe he’ll be confirmed, yes.” Ah, nice try, Mitch. He tried answering “yes” to a different question than the one he was asked. No one had asked him if he “believed” Kavanaugh would be confirmed; they asked him about the vote total. In other words, he doesn’t have the votes and he knows it. He’s nonetheless pushing forward.
This may help explain the chaotic situation we saw earlier this evening, when the GOP-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee announced to major media outlets that it was holding the Kavanaugh vote this Friday, just one day after Dr. Christine Blasey Ford is set to testify. Minutes later, committee chair Chuck Grassley pushed back against this, asserting that the vote wouldn’t necessarily happen on Friday. Was it McConnell who announced that the vote would be Friday? If so, the GOP is in total disarray.
So what happens next? We’ve got Susan Collins calling for a delay in the committee vote so an additional witness can testify. We’ve also got Lisa Murkowski calling for an FBI investigation into Brett Kavanaugh, and then in typical fashion, pretending she didn’t just call for one. Mitch McConnell knows he doesn’t have their votes, yet he’s pushing forward anyway, seemingly trying to bully them into backing down. We’re now seeing a dangerous game of chicken playing out within the Republican Party.
