Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell spoke at the Republican National Convention Tuesday night, immediately following a video message from Donald Trump, who thanked the audience for voting for him to be the presidential nominee for the Republican Party.
“I am here to tell you Hillary Clinton will say anything, do anything, and be anything to get elected president,” McConnell said. "You know that if Hillary is president, we’ll continue to slide, distracted by the scandals that follow the Clintons like flies."
McConnell was booed by some delegates both times he took the stage Tuesday night. He was also booed on Monday evening when Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus put McConnell's name forward to act as temporary convention chairman.
McConnell didn’t talk much about Trump during his speech, though he asserted that the newly-minted nominee would sign legislation that the Republican-dominated House and Senate have pushed in recent years.
“We put Obamacare repeal on the president’s desk, he vetoed it," McConnell said. "Donald Trump would sign it."
The Majority Leader reminded the audience that their party regained control of the Senate in 2014, putting pressure on the Democratic president with a “freshman class of rock star Republicans.” That year, Republicans gained 9 seats to retake the majority.
But the party’s command of the chamber is on the line this year with a new round of Senate re-elections. According to the Center For Politics, Democrats are in striking distance of recouping two lost seats and six races will be “toss-ups.”
McConnell concluded his RNC speech with a plea to put a Republican in the White House and keep the party on top in the Senate.
“Let us continue our work. Let us put justices on the Supreme Court that cherish our Constitution,” said McConnell, who has led Senate Republicans in blocking President Obama’s nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Though on Tuesday Republican delegates officially voted for Trump to be the party’s presidential nominee, he won’t officially accept the nomination until Thursday evening.
