Donald Trump is standing alone. Some well-known faces of the Republican Party, such as Senator Mitt Romney, or former President George W. Bush, have already congratulated President Joe Biden on his election victory. But there are those who still remain by his side. This is the case of Mitch McConnell, leader of the Republican majority in the Senate.
McConnell remained in defense of Trump, denying himself recognizing the result of the American vote and breaking the tradition of admitting defeat in order to collaborate with the transition. He is the most powerful Republican right now in Washington and on Monday he said he wanted to defend President Trump’s right to appeal legal remedies.
“The central principle here shouldn’t be complicated,” he said in a speech. In the United States all legal votes must be counted, any illegal votes must not be counted. The process must be transparent and everyone should be able to watch it. The courts are there to dispel doubts “. On Twitter, however, he wrote that Trump “has 100% of the right to investigate allegations of irregularity and study all legal options.”
McConnell’s stance leaves it clear that even after the appeals attempt and the legal route, Republicans with political power in Washington will continue to struggle to stop the Democrats. It will be him, “master of crude political battles for the objectives of the conservatives – reads the Financial Times – who through obstruction and opposition will become the scourge of liberal legislative dreams”.
McConnell, along with many Republicans, have retained their seat. “This means that the agenda of Democratic President-elect Joe Biden would be a hostage of McConnell from the beginning – continues the British daily -, greatly complicating his efforts to tackle the coronavirus pandemic and its economic repercussions”.
Born in Alabama in 1942, McConnell didn’t have an easy life. While his he father was on the front in World War II, he fell ill with polio and was taken by his mom to Warm Springs, Georgia’s favorite rehabilitation center by then President Franklin Roosevelt.
His and his political passion came very early, at the age of 14, when he ran for the presidency of his high school student council. In 1963 he participated in the famous march where Martin Luther King delivered the speech “I have a dream”. He works in the Department of Justice and was elected a senator in 1984.
Nicknamed, “Darth Vader” and “Grim Reaper”, and famous for his intransigence during the final year of Barack Obama’s second term. Although in 2012 he had reached a compromise to reach a tax agreement with then-Vice President Joe Biden.
Once Trump arrived in the White House, McConnell worked to challenge a conservative majority that could endure over time. He favors behind-the-scenes agreements over political spectacle. And relations with Russia
He was criticized for blocking the law in favor of electoral security, following alleged Russian interference in the 2016 elections.
As a child McConnell could not walk, but with diligence he managed to recover to become a minor league baseball player. When he takes a cause and a tireless soldier to heart, he gets results. And now, as the Financial Times claims: “Mr. McConnell will undoubtedly be a formidable opponent to Mr. Biden.”
