White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest called out Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for lying about why he is delaying the nomination of Loretta Lynch to be the next Attorney General.
Video:
https://youtu.be/OTnuUT9tZgo?t=1h3m46s
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Press Secretary Josh Earnest said:
Now, I’ve gotten asked a number of times since November about whether or not the president trusts Senator McConnell. Whether or not Sen. McConnell and other members of the Republican leadership, whether their word is good with the president. So, Sen. McConnell back in November was saying that her nomination should be considered in the new Congress. But yesterday when Sen. McConnell was asked on CNN about whether or not he was going to act quickly to confirm her, and to explain the delay, he said the nomination hasn’t taken that long when you consider when it was taken up which was this year. He went on to say, “The Democrat majority back in December had a chance to work on the nomination earlier, decided to delay it until this year.”
He failed to point out that, that delay was at his request, and now he’s in the position of delaying it even further. Despite the fact, and I’ll say it again, no legitimate question has been raised about her aptitude for this office. Despite the fact that submitted to more than eight hours of testimony, and despite the fact she’s answered more than six hundred written questions. So there is no question that Republicans are playing politics with the nomination of the nation’s top law enforcement officer, and it should come to an end.
Earnest’s answer about whether or not Obama trusts McConnell spoke volumes. Instead of saying yes or no, the White House Press Secretary gave the perfect example of why the White House can’t trust McConnell. McConnell has gone back on his word on the Lynch nomination, and has demonstrated that he is completely untrustworthy.
Sen. McConnell is holding the final vote on the Lynch nomination hostage, because Senate Democrats are blocking a human trafficking bill due to the Republican insertion of language about restriction abortion. Sen. McConnell is making his own problems worse by blocking a vote on Loretta Lynch.
Senate Republicans are desperate to prove that they can pass legislation over Democratic objections. The problem is that they can’t pass legislation without working with Democrats. By blocking a vote on Lynch, McConnell is compounding his problems by denying the Senate at least one accomplishment.
McConnell is denying the nation a new attorney general because he needs to pass a bill and get a “win.” Mitch McConnell is getting desperate, and the Obama White House is calling out the Senate Majority Leader’s lie on the Lynch nomination.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
