Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday blamed the Democrats’ push to impeach President Trump in January for distracting the Trump administration from the threat posed by coronavirus.
“It came up while we were tied down in the impeachment trial. And I think it diverted the attention of the government because everything every day was all about impeachment,” McConnell said in an interview on “The Hugh Hewitt Show.”
President Trump has come under sharp criticism for the nation’s slow response to the spreading pandemic, especially for the shortage of coronavirus testing kits when the infection first spread to the United States.
More than 160,000 Americans have tested positive for COVID-19 and more than 3,000 people have died from the virus in the country.
McConnell told Hewitt that he has not heard any new reports about senators being diagnosed with coronavirus.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) missed a vote on the $2 trillion economic relief package after being diagnosed with COVID-19 and four other Republican senators placed themselves in quarantine last week out of caution for potential exposure.
China reported its first known death due to coronavirus on Jan. 11, after researchers in the country discovered a new, unknown disease had infected dozens of people.
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Article URL : https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/490335-mcconnell-impeachment-distracted-government-from-coronavirus-threat