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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi slammed her Senate counterpart, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, for his refusal to bring critical legislation the House has passed to the Senate floor. And she did it in a most delicious way, employing the nickname that enrages him.
Speaking at an Illinois "Democrat Day" event, Pelosi said, "We all want to invest in building our democracy and saving it from any enemies foreign and domestic, so we've sent our legislation to the Senate. […] 'Moscow Mitch' says that he is the 'Grim Reaper' […] that he's going to bury all this legislation. Well, we have news for him. All this legislation is alive and well in the general public."
She went on to quote Abraham Lincoln: "He said public sentiment is everything. With it, you can accomplish almost anything. Without it—practically nothing." That "public sentiment," she continued, "is what you will help us make sure he is aware of." Democrats are trying to increase public pressure on McConnell and Donald Trump to bring the Senate back to vote on the House gun bills and on election security, though they have yet to unilaterally return from August recess to really shame them into acting.
McConnell remains unmoved, refusing to bring the Senate back into active session. "We must pass gun violence prevention legislation," Pelosi said Wednesday. "Every day we lose lives." All the more reason for Democrats to really amp up the pressure by being in D.C., ready to work.