Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) might very well be a Democrat in name only these days, especially after her literal thumbs-down on a minimum-wage vote. Amid all of the denim vest and Ted Lasso-related backlash, she’s leaning harder to the right with each passing Senate gridlock (including the infrastructure bill), and Sinema is very aware of the speculation on whether she will go Republican.
At least, that’s the vibe she’s giving off during a rare interview that she gave to Politico. When directly inquired about whether she’ll switch sides, she simply answered like this: “No. Why would I do that?” Politico notes that Sinema used her “trademark deadpan” in response. The article notes that GOP Whip John Thune has pushed hard to recruit Sinema, who’s already making that Senate split difficult enough for Democrats. Yet Sinema has more to say about, uh, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Specifically, she finds him to be enormously funny:
….[I]n her miniature, pink-hued Capitol hideaway office, Sinema dressed down Democratic leadership for setting expectations too high. She also defended the right of her critics to protest her, but not to follow her into a bathroom and “unfairly and illegally” victimize the students she teaches at Arizona State. Sinema also revealed why she’s constantly spotted on the floor chatting with GOP leader McConnell: “He has a dry sense of humor. It’s underrated.”
I can only imagine — I take that back. It is hard to imagine what types of jokes that Mitch McConnell would tell. They can’t be fantastic jokes, right? They’ve gotta be the ultimate dad jokes. Whatever he’s selling, Sinema sure is a fan of his. She even said hello to him on the way to give that cutsey, backpack-accented, thumbs down vote, which you can relive again below.
(Via Politico)