Mitch McCONNELL's birth name is Addison Mitchell McConnell Jr. born February 20, 1942, is an American politician currently serving as Kentucky's senior United States senator and as Senate majority leader. McConnell is the second Kentuckian to serve as a party leader in the Senate, the longest-serving U.S. senator for Kentucky in history, and the longest-serving leader of U.S. Senate Republicans in history.

McConnell was first elected to the Senate in 1984. During the 1998 and 2000 election cycles, he was chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. McConnell was elected as Majority Whip in the 108th Congress and was re-elected to the post in 2004. In November 2006, he was elected Senate minority leader; he held that post until 2015, when Republicans took control of the Senate and he became Senate majority leader.

McConnell holds conservative political positions, although he was known as a pragmatist and a moderate Republican early in his political career. He led opposition to stricter campaign finance laws, culminating in the Supreme Court ruling Citizens United v. FEC that partially overturned the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (McCain-Feingold) in 2010. McConnell is often referred to as an obstructionist, having worked to withhold Republican support for major presidential initiatives during the Obama administration, and having made frequent use of the filibuster, and blocked many of President Barack Obama's judicial nominees, including Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland. 

During the Trump administration, Senate Republicans, under McConnell's leadership, broke records on the number of judicial nominees confirmed; among those nominees were Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett who were confirmed to the Supreme Court (Wikipedia).

Mitch McConnell keeps silence on the result of 2020 presidential election, but praised President Trump and supported his claims of voter frauds. But today after Electoral College voted 306 Electoral votes for Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States, Mitch McConnell called to congratulate President-elec Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.

Harris said: "I think it's critically important that the leaders of our government, especially those who are elected to the highest offices, that we dedicate ourselves to a peaceful transition of power, and to an adherence to, and a respect for, the Constitution of the United States and our electoral system".

Read this news from ABC NEWS at: 

In an exclusive interview Tuesday with ABC's "Good Morning America" co-anchor Robin Roberts, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris applauded Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for accepting her and President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the election and implored all leaders to support a peaceful transfer of power.

"I think it's critically important that the leaders of our government, especially those who are elected to the highest offices, that we dedicate ourselves to a peaceful transition of power, and to an adherence to, and a respect for, the Constitution of the United States and our electoral system," Harris said.

MORE: Kamala Harris: Everything you need to know about the Democratic nominee for vice president

Harris said lawmakers serve as role models for the American people in many ways.

"We literally take an oath, each one of us, when we take these offices to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. And so, I applaud Mitch McConnell for talking to Joe Biden today," she said.

While she said she wished the conversation between the Senate’s top Republican and Biden had happened earlier, Harris said the focus now should be on finding common ground and making progress for Americans struggling amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

MORE: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris make victory speeches: 'A time to heal'

“It would have been better if it were earlier but it happened, and that's what's most important ... Let's move forward. And where we can find common purpose and common ground, let's do that. Let that be our priority. As opposed to finding out where we disagree, let's actually focus on where we might agree, and then get some work done," Harris said.

Watch Robin Roberts’ exclusive interview with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris Wednesday on "Good Morning America" at 7 a.m. ET.

Harris to ABC’s Robin Roberts: 'I applaud Mitch McConnell for talking to Joe Biden' originally appeared on abcnews.go.com

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