Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) defended President Donald Trump’s sluggish response to the COVID-19 pandemic by passing the buck to Democrats’ impeachment efforts.
During an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Tuesday, McConnell accused Democrats of trying to turn Trump’s bungled handling of the coronavirus outbreak into a “political liability” for Trump.
The GOP leader said that Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) was the first to sound the alarm over COVID-19.
“And it came up while we were tied down on the impeachment trial,” McConnell said. “And I think it diverted the attention of the government, because everything every day was all about impeachment.”
Though the first COVID-19 case in the U.S. emerged on January 21, the Trump administration did not ask for emergency funding from Congress until February 24. Trump proceeded to downplay the virus for weeks until he was pressured into finally declaring a state of emergency on March 13.
The GOP-controlled Senate had acquitted President Donald Trump all way back on February 5.
