‘These people should read a book’: Republicans derided as ‘absolute clowns’ after booing McConnell at RNC

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was loudly booed during his appearance at the 2024 Republican National Convention on Monday.

The Senate leader, who turned 82 earlier this year and announced his retirement this fall, criticized Donald Trump after the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, but officially endorsed the former president’s 2024 campaign in March.

After publicly criticizing Trump and his base — and taking months to support the MAGA leader — Spectrum News reported earlier this year that the “longest-serving party leader in Senate history had become increasingly unpopular in his congressional district and with the Republican base.”

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According to Axios, McConnell’s unpopularity became apparent on the first day of the RNC when he “spoke on behalf of Kentucky’s delegates during Monday’s roll call.”

Several political experts sharply criticized the Republican Party’s reaction to the GOP chairman.

Brian Riedl, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, wrote: “Absolute clowns. McConnell has done more for the conservative movement in the last 50 years than any other member of Congress. These people should read a book or even turn on C-Span someday.”

Cameron Joseph, senior reporter for the CS Monitor’s Washington bureau, commented: “The election of Vance is unlikely to help Trump distance himself from Project 2025. Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation and the project’s chief architect, responded to the news by saying he and Vance are ‘good friends.’ Vance wrote the foreword to Roberts’ new book.”

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Andrew Bates, deputy White House press secretary, wrote: “@SpeakerJohnson to @FoxNews on July 1: ‘Unless the President is reading from the teleprompter, I don’t think he is capable of making these important decisions.’ Speaker Johnson today after his teleprompter malfunctioned: ‘And there goes the teleprompter…’ (walks away to triumphant music)”