Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is claiming the Biden administration is not interested in uniting with Republicans.
During an appearance on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom” Wednesday, McConnell was asked when he will be at the White House and when he has been invited to meet President Joe Biden.
“I haven’t been invited to the White House. So far this administration is not interested in doing anything on a bipartisan basis or in the political center. They’d be more than happy to pick off a few of our members and do what they would like to do,” McConnell said.
He added, “There’s been no efforts whatsoever by the president or the administration to do anything in the political center. It’s been trying to jam through everything on the hard left. You saw that on the $1.9 trillion COVID package.”
Watch the video below:
McConnell was asked when he spoke with Biden last, he replied, “I don’t believe I’ve spoken with him since he was sworn in. We had a couple of conversations before then.”
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki pushed back against McConnell’s claim during her press briefing on Wednesday.
“[Biden] has a long friendship with leader McConnell. He has spoken with him, he speaks with him regularly… I expect that will continue,” Psaki said.
Watch her comments below:
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki shoots down McConnell's claim that he and President Biden don't talk. pic.twitter.com/rw4N6E6mTJ
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) March 24, 2021
Biden called for unity during his inaugural address in January, as IJR previously reported.
“To overcome these challenges, to restore the soul and secure the future of America, requires so much more than words. It requires the most elusive of all things in a democracy: unity,” Biden said.
He continued, “We must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal. We can do this – if we open our souls instead of hardening our hearts.”
The president did acknowledge it was not going to be easy, “I know the forces that divide us are deep and they are real. But I also know they are not new. Our history has been a constant struggle between the American ideal that we all are created equal and the harsh, ugly reality that racism, nativism, fear, demonization have long torn us apart.”
