- Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to directly answer a reporter’s question about former president Donald Trump’s indictment.
- A video of the senator’s response to the question has been viewed more than 194,000 times on Twitter.
- Twitter users expressed frustration at McConnell’s lack of a clear answer and criticized the senator for refusing to give a direct answer.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell diverted from a question inquiring about his thoughts on former president Donald Trump’s indictment when speaking to reporters Tuesday.
Trump made history in late March when he became the first former president to be charged when a grand jury issued an indictment regarding Trump’s alleged involvement in hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels. McConnell remained silent when Trump was indicted and subsequently arrested and arraigned, while many Republicans responded with disbelief and outrage, even his potential presidential rival Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said the state wouldn’t help extradite Trump to New York, despite the former president’s frequent verbal warfare against the governor. McConnell’s stance on Trump’s indictment was still unclear after he refused to directly answer a reporter’s question on Tuesday.
“Are you comfortable with the fact that your party’s leading candidate for president is facing criminal charges and could be facing a trial in the middle of this election?” a reporter asked McConnell in a video that first aired on C-SPAN and was then tweeted by Twitter account Acyn.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty
“Well, let me put it this way,” McConnell answered. “I may have hit my head but I didn’t hit it that hard. Good try.”
Question: Are you comfortable with the fact that your party’s leading candidate for president is facing criminal charges..
McConnell: I may have hit my head but I didn’t hit it that hard. Good try pic.twitter.com/M5kmISh9xc— Acyn (@Acyn) April 18, 2023
As of 4:20 p.m. Eastern time, the video had been viewed more than 194,000 times.
Newsweek reached out to McConnell’s Louisville office for comment by phone.
McConnell’s answer was in reference to the Republican senator’s recent hospital stay after he fell at a Washington, D.C., hotel. McConnell suffered a concussion and a rib fracture and spent several days recovering in a hospital. He was released from the hospital March 13, but David Popp, McConnell’s communications director, said McConnell would be receiving physical therapy at an inpatient rehabilitation center after his hospital stay.
Trump was indicted March 31. The following week, McConnell remained silent regarding Trump’s arrest and instead released a statement on Finland’s admission to NATO.
Trump has slammed McConnell for the senator’s refusal to support some of the former president’s claims, such as that Trump won the 2020 election against Joe Biden. However, Trump remains the party’s frontrunner for the 2024 election, and it is unclear who McConnell will endorse for the presidential bid.
In response to the video, Twitter users expressed frustration at McConnell’s lack of a clear answer.
“That’s not a no so it must be a yes,” one person tweeted.
Others tagged McConnell on Twitter in their responses, asking him to give a clear “yes” or “no” answer. Some criticized the senator for giving a non-answer, and others tweeted that McConnell had lost his integrity.
“Answer was too cute for my liking,” one person responded.
“What does his response even mean??” another asked.
