Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell joined me this morning:

Audio:

03-17hhs-mcconnell

Transcript:

HH: Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you and to my guest, GOP Senate Leader Mitch McConnell from the great state of Kentucky. Good morning, Leader McConnell. Happy St. Patrick’s Day.

MM: Well, and same to you. The McConnells came from County Down up near Belfast a long time ago.

HH: That’s where the Hewitts came from, Saintfield in Belfast, outside of Ulster. So there may be come common ground there.

MM: Yeah.

HH: Senator, what did you make of the Zelensky address yesterday?

MM: Well, inspiring once again. What a brave leader the Ukrainians have. They’ve been an inspiration to the whole world. And that said, yesterday, I appreciate the President’s efforts, but he needs to step up his game. There’s a lot more we need to do, and we need to do it quickly. I’ve been trying to get this administration to properly arm the Ukrainians for months, because you could see this coming. I mean, this is not a surprise attack. He’s been mobilizing and putting soldiers on the border for quite a while. No surprise, and I’d say one good thing came out of it, Hugh. Vladimir Putin has unified NATO and transformed German politics, something no American president’s ever been able to do.

HH: You know, the only leader of the West who has not increased their awareness of the threat posed by the trio of tyrants in Iran, Russia, and China is Joe Biden. And I want to ask you, can you believe we’re about to do a deal with Iran and Russia with Russia being the mediator with a terrorist regime that’s trying to kill Americans in the country as we speak?

MM: It’s mindboggling. And of course, it’ll be a bad deal, too. It’ll have absolutely nothing to do with all of Iran’s collateral activities supporting terrorism all over the Middle East. Yeah, I mean, President Trump was right to get out of that deal. And I think there’s no question the administration is anxious to make a deal. And look, you know, that unsettles our Sunni Arab allies like the Emiratis and the Saudis. They see us cozying up to Iran once again, so it has an adverse impact on our allies, the Sunni Arab states, and Israel’s not going to be too keen on this, either.

HH: It strikes me, Leader McConnell, that President Biden’s eagerness, and eagerness of his team led by Tony Blinken and Wendy Sherman for any deal with Iran has compromised his willingness to step up in Ukraine, because he needs Russia to do the deal with Iran. Ben Rhodes, you know, the Metternich of MSNBC, has been out there yesterday blasting Americans as oligarchs, the Koch Brothers. That’s how far left this gang has gone. Do you think fear of losing the Iran deal is holding the President back from supporting Zelensky?

MM: Oh, I think it could be a factor. Mainly, I think they have incorrectly concluded that Putin may actually want a war with NATO. That’s insane. He can’t handle Ukraine. He’s nuts to try and go to war with us. And so they have, in effect, Hugh, allowed Putin to define what we do. If they’re afraid, for example, to okay the Poles’ efforts to send MiGs into Ukraine because, why, they think it may provoke Vladimir Putin. It could well be that they’re anxious, their desire to get into a bad deal with Iran has an adverse impact on this. I’ll tell you, in my view, what gave Putin a green light was our precipitous withdrawal from Afghanistan last August. It was a bold display of cowardice and an indication that America was in retreat.

HH: Well, I have been telling people all morning I’ve been listening to Andrew Roberts’ magnificent biography of Churchill before I go to bed. Last night, I listened for two hours, because it’s 1938-1939. The Brits believed in appeasement. They actually embraced it, the Conservatives under Neville Chamberlain. And right now, President Biden just strikes me as Neville Chamberlain writing to his sisters. He thinks he’s doing a good job on Ukraine, Mr. Leader. You’ve known him a long time. Can anyone get through to him? He’s not doing a good job. He’s in the line that leads directly back to Neville Chamberlain.

MM: Well, you know what Bob Gates said about Joe Biden in foreign policy, that he’s been wrong on every major occasion. So I think the, this is the Joe Biden that I knew in the Senate. Good guy, but increasingly wrong, or almost always wrong on these kinds of issues.

HH: And surrounded by weak-kneed people, even if Ben Rhodes is on the outside cheering on attacks on the Koch Brothers as oligarchs. It’s just astonishing. Now, I want to turn to Judge Brown Jackson. I think she’s going to be confirmed rather easily. I’ve put the over-under at 65. I think she’s qualified, but the questions matter. Will someone ask her about Article II, Section 2, which is the treaty power? That is vested in your body, Leader McConnell, not in the State Department. They cannot continue to do JCPOAs and pretend like they can’t go to the Senate with it. Is that a legitimate question for a nominee to answer?

MM: Well, I don’t think there’s any question she would not answer it. She would claim that that’s an issue that might come before her. And so I think she will not answer it. I’ll tell you, I asked her something I thought she could and should have answered. I said Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Justice Breyer have been quite open and expressed themselves on the issue of court packing and term limits for Supreme Court justices, which is clearly unconstitutional. This is about the institution of the Supreme Court. How, you know, why don’t you tell us how you feel about that. She wouldn’t even answer that. So I think all these nominees, whether they’re from a Republican president or Democratic president, since Justice Ginsburg’s confirmation have basically refused to answer any question, and I don’t think she’ll address the Treaty power, either, Hugh.

HH: All right, now there is one thing I think she can address, I don’t know if you’ve talked to her about it, when your colleague, Chuck Schumer, held a press conference in front of the Supreme Court and threatened the Court. And the United States Senate sent a brief in threatening the Court. That is a Court matter about which the Court, it’s not going to come before the Court, because it’s a letter. Would she talk about the appropriateness of threatening the Supreme Court by the Senate?

MM: Well, my guess is that our Judiciary Committee members will ask her about all these things. But she won’t respond. Look, I mean, the liberal groups that are so excited about her nomination are the very ones that have been calling for packing the Court or term limits on the Court. So in a sense, that’s her base. So that’s a double reason why she won’t answer questions about attacks on the Court, which I think would be appropriate for her to comment on.

HH: I do, too. I hope it’s repeatedly brought up. Leader McConnell, I have in my hands One Damn Thing After Another, the memoir of Attorney General William Barr. I’m a big Barr fan, and I’m up to the part where they’re nominating David Souter. And you know, that is probably the biggest mistake in judicial politics in the last 50 years, because it was Edith Jones or David Souter. Ken Starr was in third place. And George H.W. Bush, a great American, was afraid of a confirmation battle. Why is it that Republicans are afraid of them, and Democrats aren’t, that they nominate reliable hardcore liberal judges like Judge Brown Jackson, and no one doubts she’s going to rule with the left, and we get all jumpy, we being Republicans, about nominating good, solid conservative originalists?

MM: Yeah, I think, I think it’s pretty safe to say no Democratic president has had an unpleasant surprise by any of their Supreme Court nominees, and we’ve had that on a number of occasions. I don’t think we made any mistakes during the Trump administration. I think confirming judges with a simple majority helped get the right kind of judges on the bench. But yeah, if you look back, Nixon appointed Blackmun, Bush 41 did Souter. They made a mistake.

HH: And Bill Barr points this out that Dick Thornburg and Boyden Gray recommended David Souter. He and Mike Luttig and Vice President Quayle and others supported Edith Jones. What would be the difference in the United States if Edith Jones had been the nominee, Leader?

MM: Enormous difference. Edith Jones is still on the 5th Circuit doing her thing.

HH: Yes, she is.

MM: She’s been terrific. You know, others that were considered at the time, Larry Silberman, a great D.C. Circuit Court judge, would have also been an all-star.

HH: So what’s ahead? Do you just expect a repeat of the Kagan hearings, a repeat of the Sotomayor hearings where there are difficult questions asked? Republicans do not engage in vicious personal attacks based on rumor, innuendo and lies, and the judge is confirmed comfortably? Is that what you expect?

MM: Yeah, look, I’m not interested in what somebody may have written in Justice Jackson’s high school yearbook. And I think this will not be anything close to what they did to Clarence Thomas or Brett Kavanaugh.

HH: I agree. I also think the Democrats hope that some Republicans overplay their hand, because they’re going to get, they’re going to get blown out in November on a variety of reasons, and they’re praying that the Republicans make a misstep here. Does the conference know that?

MM: Yeah, we do. We do, and I think Judge Jackson will be treated respectfully. I think the questions will be appropriate, and I think you’re right. I think she’s highly likely to be confirmed with very few Republican votes because of her philosophy, not anything else.

HH: But the Republicans in their questioning will not be using the tactics of the left. I mean, I will disown those. Have you just talked to them bluntly? We don’t do that?

MM: Yeah, I mean, I’m confident that’s not going to happen. None of our people are interested in doing that.

HH: All right, last question is on gas prices, Mr. Leader. The President is right. Putin has added a premium to our gas. But it’s 10%. It’s not 100% of what’s happened at the pump. Does anyone on the other side of the aisle really believe gas prices are the result of Putin’s invasion?

MM: No. It’s laughable. The invasion’s gone on for three weeks. The spike in gas prices began at the beginning of the year. And so whatever the, whatever Putin added was a tiny percent of what you’re paying at the pump.

HH: And is there anything that the President could do to lower that gas price, in your opinion, that he has not done?

MM: American energy production. We were a net exporter of oil and gas as late as 2019. They have basically shut down domestic production on public lands, cancelled the Keystone Pipeline, and they’re begging Venezuela, for example, to increase production while they won’t allow it here at home.

HH: It’s astonishing. So the very last question, Senator, are you confident of getting the Senate back under Republican control in November?

MM: I think we have an excellent chance. There are a lot more of us up than them, 20 of us and only 14 of them, but the President’s in terrible shape. I think the chances of his improving dramatically before November are not good. And this kind of midterm election is always a referendum on how you feel about the incumbent president.

HH: I agree with that. Leader McConnell, continue to keep the focus. Thank you for joining me this morning. Good luck in trying to get some answers out of Judge Brown Jackson. I appreciate the time, Leader.

MM: Thank you.

End of interview.