Y'all, I am kind of overwhelmed that for the first time since 2019, Senator McConnell would do an event outside of Kentucky and would come to Georgia.

And I've thought a lot about how to introduce someone who I have in my career in politics praised and criticized back and forth repeatedly.

He, but I think at this venture, at this point in time, when I look back, one of the criticisms

that I think Senator McConnell has gotten over time is that, well, it doesn't matter.

Any Senate leader would do this, except I remember when I was in college and there was a government

shutdown and George Stephanopoulos actually wrote in his book that Bill Clinton's administration

was within 24 hours of caving to the Republicans in the House and he got a call from then

Senate Republican leader Bob Dole that the Senate Republicans had come together and they would side with Clinton. And then I remember all of the judicial fights at the

beginning of the Bush administration where Senate majority leader a lot and then Frist wouldn't

fight aggressively for those Republican judicial picks that Democrats wanted to block and filibuster.

And I remember the betrayal of so many Republicans who wanted to pass a bipartisan campaign

finance reform that would just hurt Americans' ability to participate in politics.

And in each of those fights, there was a senator from Kentucky who was willing to stand up and fight,

even when leadership wouldn't and ultimately got rewarded with that leadership.

And here, as he's finishing his tenure as the longest serving Republican leader, and Republicans

oftentimes get frustrated and complain, well, we have a United States Supreme Court with a

six-three conservative majority, and we have a United States Supreme Court with a 6-3 conservative majority,

and we would not have that Supreme Court, but for one man willing to say, I'll take all the blame,

I'm not putting Merrick Garland on the Supreme Court.

And Republicans were vilified.

He was vilified and he knew by virtue of being the senator from Kentucky that as long

as Kentuckians were happy with him, he could do this.

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