Mitch McConnell: ‘I’m A Big Fan Of Vaccinations’ Since I Had Polio

Incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., talks about his agenda for a GOP-controlled Congress during an interview with The Associated Press at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2014. McCon... Incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., talks about his agenda for a GOP-controlled Congress during an interview with The Associated Press at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2014. McConnell says approving the Keystone XL pipeline will top the Senate agenda in January. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) MORE LESS
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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) described himself as a “big fan of vaccinations” on Tuesday, noting that he had been struck by polio.

McConnell made the statement after the issue of vaccines jumped into the national spotlight among potential 2016 presidential candidates.

McConnell explained his stance to reporters in Washington, D.C.

“As a victim of polio myself, I’m a big fan of vaccinations. If I were a parent who had a child who might be subject to … any particular disease I would come down on the side of vaccination,” McConnell said.

Asked if vaccines should be mandatory, he demurred.

“I can tell you what I would do if I were a parent who had a child in this situation,” he said.

This piece has been updated.

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Notable Replies

  1. Too bad there’s no vaccine for being an evil, self-centered plutocrat puppet who panders to racism and bigotry to further shift power to the wealthy. The polio stick may have “struck” him, but he got full-on anal raped by THAT stick…pretty sure it got broken off in there.

  2. Avatar for jarnj3 jarnj3 says:

    Now they’re all out trying to do damage control… Its such a shame most Americans don’t pay attention to this crap - they’d never vote Republican if they only knew…

  3. The “they’re” you are referring to is what laughably goes by the term “GOP establishment.” The problem is now both Boner and Yertle own this venal and highly stupid crowd. They realize how bad this looks to the majority of Americans and want to try to minimize the damage.

  4. Funny how people who have lived in a world without vaccinations for a serous disease have no difficulty being in favor of them.

  5. Looks like someone in the Republican party got a look at the polls on this one.

    Not to take anything away from the reasonable response McTurtle gave, but does anyone really believe he’d have that view if it hadn’t affected him personally? Its like that for most issues with Republicans. If they haven’t personally experienced something, they have no clue as to which position to take, so they generally opt for the most offensive one just so they can rally their base with anything that’s in opposition to the President’s stance. Glad that McTurtle didn’t go that route this time.

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