House Speaker Nancy Pelosi referred to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday as “Moscow Mitch” while attacking him for opposing election security legislation.
Mrs. Pelosi, California Democrat, invoked the nickname during an event hosted by the Illinois Democratic County Chairs’ Association in Springfield, Illinois.
“We all want to invest in building our democracy and saving it from any enemies, foreign and domestic,” she told attendees.
“We’ve sent our legislation 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,” Mrs. Pelosi said. “Well, we have news for him. All this legislation is alive and well in the general public.”
Mr. McConnell, Kentucky Republican, was labeled “Moscow Mitch” last month after blocking the Senate from voting on election security bills written in response to Russia interfering in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. He subsequently accused his critics of engaging in “unhinged smears” and practicing “modern-day McCarthyism.”
A spokesperson for the Senate leader cited his previous response to the “Moscow Mitch” moniker when reached for comment Wednesday.
“If anything is an asset to the Russians, it is disgusting behavior like that,” Mr. McConnell said last month.
Federal intelligence and law enforcement officials have assessed that the Russian government meddled in the White House race won by President Trump, prompting lawmakers on Capitol Hill to propose several measures meant to secure future elections from foreign interference.
Those efforts have largely failed to gain steam in the Senate, however, where the Republican majority led by Mr. McConnell has stopped several bills from being fast-tracked in the face of next year’s race.
“It doesn’t make Republicans traitors or un-American. It makes us policymakers with a different opinion,” Mr. McConnell said last month.
On Tuesday, Mr. Trump said that any election security legislation is “meaningless” unless it includes provisions requiring voters to present identification at the polls.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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