McConnell’s Shameless Hypocrisy Over Corporate Role In Politics Laid Bare On Twitter

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) speaks at a press conference at the US Capitol on September 22, 2020. (Photo by NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)
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Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) said on Tuesday that recent comments made by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) urging corporations stay out of politics projected “a whiff of desperation.”

The comments calling out McConnell’s shameless desperation amid the corporate protest over a restrictive new voting law in Georgia, come after the Kentucky Republican offered an about-face on Monday regarding the role of corporations in politics.

“I found it completely discouraging to find a bunch of corporate CEOs getting in the middle of politics,” McConnell said during a press conference in his home state on Monday. “My advice to the corporate CEOs of America is to stay out of politics. Don’t pick sides in these big fights.”

The assertion comes after McConnell has routinely leveraged corporate power for political gain. McConnell’s campaign has for years lined its coffers with corporate donations and even outpaced other candidates in 2020’s election cycle for donations from CEOs of companies on the S&P Index, according to MarketWatch.

The posture from the Kentucky lawmaker also comes after years of fiercely defending the funneling of corporate cash into politics, insisting that businesses have both rights to free speech and a right to boost preferred candidates to influence elections.

McConnell was the plaintiff in a landmark case against the Federal Elections Commission in 2003 challenging campaign finance reform that went to the U.S. Supreme Court and was an outspoken supporter of the 2010 ruling that ultimately defended corporate spending in politics.

Political analysts on Twitter were also quick to point out the hypocrisy:

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