In an extraordinary conference call this morning with fellow Senate Republicans, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said his Jan. 6 vote certifying Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election will be “the most consequential I have ever cast,” according to a source on a call and two other sources briefed on the private remarks.
- A source paraphrased McConnell as saying, “I’m finishing 36 years in the Senate and I’ve cast a lot of big votes.” including over war and impeachment.
- “And in my view, just my view,” McConnell said, “this is will be the most consequential I have ever cast.”
- “The context was McConnell saying we’re being asked to overturn the results after a guy didn’t get as many electoral votes and lost by 7 million popular votes,” the source said.
Between the lines: Many Republican senators are furious at Hawley for forcing them to take what Trump is setting up as the ultimate loyalty test on January 6th.
- On the call, McConnell asked Hawley to explain what he planned to do on Jan. 6, said a source on the call.
- Then, Indiana Sen. Todd Young pressed Hawley on which states he planned to contest, and Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey defended the integrity of his state’s elections.
- There was just one problem: They were met with silence. Hawley hadn’t dialed into the conference call â a fact first reported by Politico’s Alex Isenstadt.