Topline
Vandals targeted U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s home Saturday morning, leaving the message “where’s my money” spray painted across his front door, just a day after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s home was targeted in similar fashion.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) talks with reporters following the weekly Republican … [+] Senate conference meeting in the Mansfield Room at the U.S. Capitol Dec. 1, 2020 in Washington. (Photo by Tom Williams-Pool/Getty Images)
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Key Facts
McConnell’s Louisville, Kentucky home was also defaced with expletives left across the brick front wall of the house, which police reportedly believe happened around 5 a.m. Saturday morning.
The vandalism comes after McConnell repeatedly blocked votes from taking place to increase stimulus checks from $600 to $2,000, a proposal that had the support of Democrats, President Donald Trump and many Congressional Republicans.
On Friday, Pelosi’s San Francisco home was vandalized with the spray painted message “$2K cancel rent,” while a severed pig’s head was left in a pool of fake blood in front of her garage door.
Chief Critic
“Vandalism and the politics of fear have no place in our society,” McConnell said in a statement. “My wife and I have never been intimidated by this toxic playbook. We just hope our neighbors in Louisville aren’t too inconvenienced by this radical tantrum.”
What We Don’t Know
It’s not clear if McConnell was home at the time the vandalism took place.
Key Background
Americans have started receiving $600 stimulus checks in their bank accounts as part of the latest stimulus package signed by President Donald Trump. For a time, it appeared Trump might actually veto the package Congress approved on Dec. 21 after painstaking negotiations between Republicans and Democrats over where money should be allocated. Trump sided with Democrats in decrying the $600 checks as “ridiculously low,” while also targeting several other spending agreements unrelated to the Covid relief package. Democrats responded by calling for Congress to reconvene to increase the checks to $2,000. The House of Representatives passed the measure by a massive 275-134 majority, which included 44 Republicans. McConnell blocked the Senate from taking up a vote on the check increase.
Tangent
McConnell’s home had been the site of protesting in September, when over 100 people gathered to call on McConnell to not immediately fill the U.S. Supreme Court seat once held by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The protest failed to persuade McConnell, leading to Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation to the Supreme Court.
Further Reading
Mitch McConnell’s Louisville home vandalized following his blockage of $2,000 stimulus checks (Courier-Journal)
McConnell Blocks Trump’s, Democrats’ Bid To Increase Stimulus Checks To $2,000 (Forbes)
Democrats Rally Around Trump’s Last Minute Request For $2,000 Checks—Will It Matter? (Forbes)
House Passes $2,000 Stimulus Check Bill, But The Plan Will Face Opposition In The Senate (Forbes)
Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco Home Vandalized With Graffiti, Severed Pig’s Head (KPIX-TV)
