#Mitch McConnell says Democrats threaten police, gun rights and hamburgers at RNC

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Mitch McConnell gives his remarks on the final night of the RNC.
Photo Courtesy of the Committee on Arrangements for the 2020 Republican National Committee via Getty Images

In his speech at the 2020 Republican National Convention Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell warned that if Democrats win, police will be defunded, Second Amendment rights will be trampled — and Americans’ hamburger intake will be limited.

“Today’s Democrat Party doesn’t want to improve life for middle America,” McConnell (R-Ky.) said in a taped speech aired on the final night of the convention.

“They want to tell you when you could go to work, when your kids go to school. They want to tax to your job out of existence, and then send you a government check for unemployment.

“They want to tell you what kind of car you can drive, what sources of information are credible and even how many hamburgers you can eat,” he warned.

McConnell, 78, is married to Trump’s Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao. He’s a childhood polio survivor and is known for shrewd politicking against congressional Democrats.

His reference to hamburgers may be a swipe at Democratic environmental policies, such as the Green New Deal’s proposal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions caused by cow flatulence.

In his remarks, McConnell urged voters to support Trump for reelection and also Republican Senate candidates.

“They want to defund the police and take away your Second Amendment rights,” he said. “They want free health care for illegal immigrants yet they offer no protection at all for unborn Americans. They want to pack the Supreme Court with liberals intent on eroding our constitutional rights.

“And they want to codify all this by making the swamp itself — Washington, DC — America’s 51st state. With two more liberal senators we cannot undo the damage they’ve done.”

McConnell is reviled by Democrats. He notably refused to hold a confirmation vote in 2016 on President Barack Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland to serve on the Supreme Court, arguing it should be an election issue. The delay allowed President Trump to nominate Neil Gorsuch.

The top Senate Republican this year refused to hold a vote on a $3 trillion coronavirus package that House Democrats passed in May, calling it “an 1,800 page liberal wish list.”

Trump has remarked approvingly of his prowess, calling McConnell “mean as a snake.”

At times, McConnell has been willing to steer policy away from Trump’s priorities. He recently left a temporary payroll tax cut requested by Trump out of Republican coronavirus stimulus legislation. Last year, he forced Trump to back off unveiling a GOP healthcare proposal before the 2020 election, saying there was no appetite among Republicans.