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Mitch McConnell Is Afraid of a Debate with Amy McGrath Moderated by a Woman

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) speaks during a press conference

Mitch McConnell is afraid. He’s facing losing his job as Senate Majority Leader with the Democrats narrowly favored to take back the upper chamber and he’s personally facing the most competitive reelection campaign in his career. Maybe that’s why he doesn’t want to debate his challenger, Amy McGrath, with a female moderator.

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What? Surely Mitch McConnell, the man with no conscience or principles, who wants to shove a Supreme Court justice through the system and take away women’s rights wouldn’t be … a misogynist? Oh. Wait.

The allegation that McConnell won’t enter into a debate with McGrath come from the Lexington Herald-Leader, which explains that there are two potential debates on the calendar between McConnell and McGrath. One, hosted by Kentucky station KET, would have a female moderator, and McConnell has not accepted that invitation. The other, hosted by Gray TV, was supposed to be moderated by a team of a man, Bill Bryant, and a woman, Shannon Cogan. Cogan has been removed and the McGrath campaign claims that this was done under pressure from McConnell.

Noting that McConnell hadn’t taken part in a debate with a female moderator, McGrath’s campaign did not mince words on the matter: “Amy is ready and willing to debate Mitch, but Mitch is afraid to take the stage unless he dictates every detail,” said Courtney Daniel, McGrath’s communications director. “We want to have a debate that includes representation that reflects our electorate, and we won’t let him railroad us on that. Amy is a mom, a trailblazer for women in the military, and the future first woman senator from Kentucky. She will always fight to include concerns of women and families in the Senate.”

Army veteran Amy McGrath is raising heaps of money against McConnell, and, while she’s behind in the polls, the reelection of the second most unpopular Senator in America has gained national attention. Given these factors and that Mitch McConnell is hoping to steal another Supreme Court seat that would mean the reversal of Roe v. Wade, McConnell has a lot of reason to be afraid of women holding him accountable.

Will this matter? Hard to say. Mitch McConnell is very used to getting away with everything. He has no morality or care for fairness. Beneath his words, his convictions are as useless, soft, and empty as the flesh hanging from his chin and neck. He’s immune to any accountability so it would be very nice to see, just once, Mitch McConnell have to answer for himself, and specifically to the women whose lives his horribleness will directly hurt.

No matter what, there will be at least there will be one woman on stage that the debate that won’t let the Turtle turn the tables, and that will be Amy McGrath.

(via Adam Parkhomenko/Twitter,  image: Stefani Reynolds/Getty Images)

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Author
Jessica Mason
Jessica Mason (she/her) is a writer based in Portland, Oregon with a focus on fandom, queer representation, and amazing women in film and television. She's a trained lawyer and opera singer as well as a mom and author.

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