‘I score them an F’: ‘Amy McGrath attacks McConnell and Trump over handling of pandemic during Kentucky debate

Two sides expected to spend combined total of $100m in closely-watch Senate race

Amy McGrath has denounced Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell’s handling of the pandemic that has killed at least 210,000 Americans, scoring them an “F”.

In a debate between the Republican seeking his seventh term in the Senate, and the Democrat trying to stop him, Ms McGrath repeatedly referred to her background in the US military. She also reminded people she was a mother of three children.

“When you go into combat, you don't make excuses, you get the job done,” said Ms McGrath, who served as a Marine fighter pilot and was the first woman to fly an active combat mission for the corps.

“He's the Senate majority leader. And all he can do right now is make excuses, in the middle of a national crisis. He has built a Senate – what was once the greatest deliberative body in the world – [that] cannot even function in the middle of a national crisis. And it's because of what he's built. That's why we’ve got to get rid of him.”

Mr McConnell, 78, had threatened not to take part in the debate with the 45-year-old if there was a woman moderator. In the end, the hour-long debate was overseen a male broadcaster,  WKYT's Bill Bryant. 

It is likely to be the only debate for the two candidates in what has emerged as the most costly Senate race in the 2020 cycle, with spending by both sides likely to have reached a combined total of $100m by November 3.

Much of the money for both sides has flowed in from outside the state, and Democrats have made defeating Mr McConnell, who many loathe for the way they believe he has enabled Mr Trump to break all presidential norms, a rallying call for grassroots activists and for fundraising.

Yet, for all the emotional attraction of defeating Mr McConnell, who has been accused of hypocrisy over his willingness to push ahead with hearing for Mr Trump’s Supreme Court pick days before an election while refusing a hearing for Barack Obama’s nominee four years ago, the most recent polls suggest the Senate majority leader has little to worry about.

The most recent poll, conducted a month ago by Quinnipiac University, scored it 53 - 41 in Mr McConnell’s favour - a margin of 12 points. Last week, The Independent was among those listening to Ms McGrath urge supporters to close the gap, at an event in Bardtown, 40 miles south-east of Louisville.

“I need you to step up for the next 28 days, do whatever you can. Make phone calls, do text banking. Get on social media and duke it out. Whatever it is you like to do. Have those conversations with your in-laws before Thanksgiving,” she said.

Monday’s debate came a a day before early voting started in Kentucky, which Mr Trump won comprehensively in 2016 and looks set to recapture this election. It also took place as infections of the coronavirus in the US hit 7.8m and the death toll stood at 214,000.

Asked about the government’s handling of the coronavirus, Ms McGrath said: “I give the president, the White House, and this Congress, an F for its handling of the coronavirus. Look, we have 213,000 Americans dead in nine months.”

She said more Americans had lost their lives to Covid-19 than had died in several wars – including the Korean, Vietnam and Iraq conflicts – combined.

She added: “And senator McConnell thinks we've done a good job. We have five per cent of the world's population, and twenty-five per cent of the world's covid cases.”

For his part, Mr McConnell sought to portray his challenger as “the most progressive person in Kentucky”. He claimed he was anti-abortion and had made Kentucky punch above its weight as a result of him being the majority leader in the Senate.

He said: “Her first vote in the Senate will be to make Chuck Schumer from New York the majority leader of the Senate, setting the agenda for the Senate, which will include changing the rules of the Senate to make it easier for liberals to win.”