The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s opponent Amy McGrath claims that the Senator is refusing to participate in debates that are moderated by women. According to McGrath, the Democratic Party candidate running against McConnell for a Kentucky seat in the U.S. Senate, the Senator has not participated in a debate with a female moderator in 25 years (the last time was in 1996). I don’t know what the exact time limit would be for this to be just a coincidence, but I feel like ole turtle-faced Mitch here is about two decades past that anyway.
McConnell declined to respond to the invitation to a debate on KET (Kentucky’s public affairs channel) that would have been moderated by a Black woman, implying that he does not plan to attend. On top of that, McGrath’s campaign is also alleging that McConnell accepted an invitation to a debate that was originally intended to be moderated by one female and one male news anchor, but the woman was suddenly dropped as a moderator “after the station negotiated with the McConnell campaign.” Of the two debates that McConnell did agree to, both are now being moderated by only men.
“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.”
A statement from a spokesperson for the Kentucky Democratic Party called McConnell’s behavior “disgusting.”
“It’s no surprise that the same person who is blocking renewal of the Violence Against Women Act, equal pay for women in the workplace and so much other legislation that would help Kentucky women is refusing to appear in a debate moderated by a woman,” McNee said. “Mitch McConnell has been in the Senate for 35 years. It’s time for him to step into the modern world where women are equal, and, stop forcing last minute changes to avoid accountability.”