The outgoing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said that the slogan “America First” has undertones similar to those used in the run-up to World War Two.
In an interview with The Financial Times, McConnell made a passionate defense of the neoconservative worldview and said that we are currently living through extremely dangerous times.
“We’re in a very, very dangerous world right now, reminiscent of before World War Two,” McConnell said. “Even the slogan is the same: ‘America First.’ That was what they said in the ’30s.”
“The cost of deterrence is considerably less than the cost of war,” he continued. “To most American voters, I think the simple answer is, ‘Let’s stay out of it.’ That was the argument made in the ’30s and that just won’t work.”
“Thanks to Reagan, we know what does work — not just saying peace through strength, but demonstrating it.”
McConnell added that he did not agree with recent comments by Donald Trump that the enemies within the United States are more dangerous than Russia and China.
However, the 82-year-old admitted that he had voted for Trump and Republicans down ballot, although refused to mention the incoming president by name.
“I supported the ticket,” he said. “The election’s over and we’re moving on.”
According to a recent biography of the Kentucky Republican, McConnell was said to have been appalled by the so-called “insurrection” at the Capitol Building and called Trump a “despicable human being.”
He was also said to have secretly celebrated the fact that Joe Biden had seized power despite widespread evidence of the election fraud and remarked that it “underscores the good judgment of the American people.”
“They’ve had just enough of the misrepresentations, the outright lies almost on a daily basis, and they fired him,” he was quoted as saying.
“And for a narcissist like him, that’s been really hard to take, and so his behavior since the election has been even worse, by far, than it was before, because he has no filter now at all.”
There are currently growing concerns about McConnell’s health and speculation that he may not even be able to serve out his final two years in the Senate.
Just this week, it was reported that he had fallen over and was struggling to walk. Photos of him in a wheelchair have since been circulated on social media, suggesting that his health issues may be worse than what has been publicly disclosed.
After McConnell’s fall yesterday, @ryangrim and I thought it was fair to share this photo we got from DCA the day after the election. Not a bombshell, but evidence the senator is struggling with age beyond what’s being projected publicly. pic.twitter.com/kIUmWmD8KL
— Emily Jashinsky (@emilyjashinsky) December 11, 2024
