Joe Biden no longer Mitch McConnell's 'trusted partner', GOP leader hasn't spoken to POTUS 'since he was sworn in'
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell accused the White House of shifting to the "hard left". During an appearance on Fox News, the Kentucky Republican said he hadn't spoken with Biden "since he was sworn in," on January 20,.nor has he been invited to the White House by the president. Mitch McConnell slams Biden's 'hard left' policies and says he and POTUS haven't spoken 'since he was sworn in'
Spokespeople for McConnell later clarified to CNN that while they had spoken since the inauguration, they did not discuss their respective political agendas. On February 2, McConnell told reporters that he and Biden had spoken about Myanmar, the budget process, and Covid-19 relief.
Democrats subsequently used a special process known as budget reconciliation to pass their controversial $1.9 trillion bill, thereby avoiding any filibuster from the GOP as stated under budgetary rules.
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"Well, the president called me on two things: Burma was one of them, the other was... the budget process and Covid relief," McConnell had told reporters on February 2.
However, during his Fox News appearance on Wednesday, March 24, McConnell said he didn't believe Biden was being bipartisan. "I haven't been invited to the White House, so far this administration is not interested in doing anything on a bipartisan basis in the political center," the GOP leader said. "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," he added.
It's worth noting that McConnell and Biden were able to strike a number of consequential deals during the Obama administration, and their relationship was deemed crucial to the prospects of getting anything big passed through the Senate -- where most legislation still requires a minimum of 60 votes -- once Biden became president.
MEAWW previously reported how Biden and McConnell might always have been on the opposite sides of the political aisle, but weren't necessarily always at each other's throats. In fact, the pair has a long history of getting along with each other both in the world of politics as well as outside of it – even at the risk of evoking the wrath of their respective parties.
Apart from being longtime senate colleagues and combatants, McConnell also maintained a cordial relationship with Biden's family. He was the only Republican senator to attend the funeral for Biden’s son Beau in 2015. Despite many fellow Republicans, including former president Donald J. Trump, repeatedly bringing up allegations of corruption against Biden’s son, Hunter, McConnell chose to stay away from the controversy.
McConnell called Biden a "trusted partner," during a 2016 public tribute to him just before the former vice president left office. In 2011, Biden appeared at the McConnell Center in Kentucky, stating that the audience wanted “to see whether or not a Republican and Democrat really like one another. Well, I’m here to tell you we do.”