Watch Nancy Pelosi call Mitch McConnell 'Moscow Mitch'
At a Democratic event in Springfield, Illinois, on Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) poked at Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for proudly killing almost all legislation the House has passed and sent on to the Senate. "'Moscow Mitch' says that he is the Grim Reaper — imagine describing yourself as the Grim Reaper — that he's going to bury all this legislation," she said. The Democratic officials in the audience laughed.
"Grim Reaper" is a name McConnell did give himself back in April, but "Moscow Mitch" was coined by MSNBC's Joe Scarborough, who tore into McConnell in July for blocking legislation to combat foreign election interference. The nickname gained new relevance after The Washington Post reported this week on a Kremlin-linked Russian company that invested in a Kentucky factory after McConnell helped thwart efforts to kill a White House effort to lift sanctions on the company.
Asked for comment on Pelosi using the nickname in public, McConnell spokesman David Popp pointed CNN to McConnell's July floor speech in which he denounced such sobriquets as "modern-day McCarthyism."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Congress reaches spending deal to avert shutdown
Speed Read The bill would fund the government through March 14, 2025
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Luigi Mangione charged with murder, terrorism
Speed Read Magnione is accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Ex-FBI informant pleads guilty to lying about Bidens
Speed Read Alexander Smirnov claimed that President Joe Biden and his son Hunter were involved in a bribery scheme with Ukrainian energy company Burisma
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
South Korea impeaches president, eyes charges
Speed Read Yoon Suk Yeol faces investigations on potential insurrection and abuse of power charges
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Biden sets new clemency record, hints at more
Speed Read President Joe Biden commuted a record 1,499 sentences and pardoned 39 others convicted of nonviolent crimes
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Mysterious drones roil New Jersey, prompt FBI inquiry
Speed Read State and federal officials are both stumped and concerned
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
South Korean president vows to fight removal
Speed Read Yoon Suk Yeol defended his martial law decree and said he will not step down, despite impeachment efforts
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
FBI Director Christopher Wray to step down for Trump
speed read The president-elect had vowed to fire Wray so he could install loyalist Kash Patel
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published