Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Friday morning took a not-so-subtle jab at former White House aide Steve Bannon for his role in the recent Alabama Senate race, where Republicans lost a seat in a deep-red state.
During McConnell’s year-end press conference, the GOP leader was asked if he blamed Bannon for Republicans’ shock loss in the special election.
“The political genius on display, throwing away a seat in the reddest state in America, is hard to ignore,” McConnell replied.
Democrat Doug Jones defeated Republican candidate Roy Moore earlier in December in the race to fill the Senate seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. He became the first Democrat to win a Senate seat representing Alabama for the first time in more than two decades.
Moore’s candidacy was weighed down by numerous women’s allegations of sexual misconduct and his own past comments. Bannon stood by Moore in the race even amid the allegations against him, and held a rally for the candidate where he took digs at elected Republicans—and members of the first family—who were less supportive of Moore.
