McConnell on Cruz’s Call for Him to Step Down: ‘I Think We Can All Agree that Ted Cruz Is Not a Fan’

Reporter: “Leader McConnell, Senator Ted Cruz had a press conference around noon, said you shouldn’t have even tried to negotiate with Democrat, said this bill was designed to fail and that it’s time for you to step down as GOP leader. What is your response to that?”
McConnell: “I think we can all agree that Senator Cruz is not a fan.”
(Laughter)
RAJU: “Leader McConnell, the president came out and he pointedly put the blame on Donald Trump. He said Donald Trump is to blame for the failure of this bill. Was Trump’s opposition too much for you to overcome?”
McConnell: “Well, I’ve said repeatedly I’m not going to get into comments about the race for the presidency among Republicans. I think the end, even though the product is approved by the border council that endorsed President Trump, most of our members feel that we are not going to be able to make a law here. And if we are not going to be able to make a law, they are reluctant to go forward. There are other parts of this supplemental that are extremely important as well: Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan. We still, in my view, ought to tackle the rest of it because it’s important — not that the border isn’t important, but we can’t get an outcome. That’s where I think we ought to head. It’s up to Senator Schumer to decide how to repackage this if, in fact, we don’t go on to it.”
Reporter: “Leader McConnell, you know, Senator Schumer says that he worked extensively with you on this package. What do you say to your colleagues who said that you misread your conference in helping to craft these border provisions?”
McConnell: “I’ve followed the instructions of that conference, who were insisting that we tackle this in October. I mean, it’s actually our side that wanted to tackle the border issue. We started it. Obviously, with a Democratic president and a Democratic Senate, our negotiators had to deal with them. And James Lankford, under those situations, did a remarkable job. To pick off the border council, which supported President Trump, certainly underscores that it was a quality product, that that particular union felt would make progress toward making things better. But as I said earlier, things have changed over the last four months, and it’s been made perfectly clear by the speaker that he wouldn’t take it up even if we sent it to him. And so I think that’s probably why most of our members think we ought to have opposition tomorrow, we’ll see, and then move on with the rest of the supplemental.”