By Rachel Maddow
Senator King is the one who can’t decide where his loyalty lies. Senator King is registered as an independent, yet he sits in the Democratic caucus. He also ran for the leadership position of President Pro-Tem in which he now is the placeholder for the VP. Senator King has made us all wonder where his loyalty lies as he has been caught being too friendly with Republicans. From what I understand, Senator King is a double-dealing controlling man. He has not only accused Senator Hirono of not doing her job, but he has tried to take it away from her. Senator King is a traitor. He has worked with Republicans to group together senators that do not approve of Hirono to try and overthrow her. He also admitted this not only to Hirono herself, but to many other senators on both sides of the aisle. He has conspired with the Republicans, and has been even seen standing in front of the filibuster box that they brought, having casual conversation. What type of leader are you? Why would you turn your back on your own party to be more "bi-partisan?" You are not bi-partisan, you are trying to switch parties.
Senator King and I have had very little interaction with each other, but I have been watching his every move since he was elected Pres Pro Temp. Since getting this position, I noticed that he was getting in way over his head with this new title. Senator King has also made it very obvious that he is working with Republicans more than he should. Now by that I mean he is choosing to help them to the extent in which
he jeporadizes and takes down the Democratic party with him. Senator King has said to me that he was surprised that "no one had written about this sooner." Instead of being apologetic or trying to defend his actions, he seems to have no guilt for his close relationship with the Republicans. He also has admitted to many Republican senators, who wished to remain anonymous, that he had been leaking Democratic strategy and messages to Senator Graham, McConnell, and other leading Republicans. What type of leader would do this to his own party? Not even Sasse did anything like this, and he was a mess. I found so many things that King was hiding, and I needed to make sure we all were aware of what type of leader he truly is. I say he is no leader, and many others can agree.
It has been brought to my attention that, “King has been undermining the Democratic agenda by colluding with Republicans and obviously favoring them along with directly attacking and undermining the democrat leadership, '' senator Ossoff remarked. This is something we have all seen because frankly King is not so slick. King has laughed while Senator Sanders is talking and often interrupts him. Senator Hirono and I find this absolutely repulsive. He is flat out disrespecting his leadership in front of everyone, and acting as if he has done nothing wrong. I have experienced this disrespect first hand at the last floor session. Senator King had recognized Senator Cruz instead of the 3 democratic senators trying to speak on behalf of the marriage bill. King knew that Cruz was going to filibuster the bill in order to kill the bill, yet he still recognized him on the floor. King was then asked by Hirono and Sanders where his loyalty lies and he yelled at them in front of me. I asked Sanders to speak on the incident and he said, “ King blatantly avoided recognizing Senator Schumer and instead recognized Senator Ted Cruz. President Pro Temp has the burden of understanding the rules and King failed. Nevertheless, I recognized him as relatively new in his role and contacted him immediately after, stating that I recognized it as a mistake and if anyone spreads misinformation on it being planned I would support him. Later on, only for King to scream at myself to not question his knowledge of procedure in front of press and in front of the entire Democratic Caucus, upsetting the nearby members of the Democratic Caucus in earshot.” Sanders was recognizing that King made a mistake, but he also made sure that King knew he would be on his side if anything. Then King just went and disrespected him in front of other senators and me. Witnessing this situation misogyny was just screaming at my face, as he yelled at senator Hirono as well and the staffer. King is a leader. King needs to learn how to take constructive criticism and not cry like a little baby because someone told him, he did something wrong. In a stressful time, like last floor session, a leader knows how to remain calm and composed. He did not.He let your temper get in the way, and that is HIGHLY unprofessional. King is disrespectful, rude, short-tempered, a traitor, misogynistic, and neglectful.
I am not the only one finding Senator King’s actions and relationship with the Republican party weirdly suspicious. Senator Booker has also said that, “I haven’t had many conversations with Senator King in order to know his true intentions but do feel he is working suspiciously close with Republican senators. I’ve personally witnessed him fraternizing with Republicans in his free time on several occasions.” This is not the way the President Pro-Tem should be acting, where senators who don’t even interact with him a lot speculate this as well. I can bet you that King has gotten to know every Republican senator fairly well, but he doesn’t talk to some of his own Democratic senators. Senator Ossoff has also speculated and witnessed this betrayal, “King has shown disloyalty throughout the session. He has ran to
the minority party whenever he can and chats with them like friends. He has also leaked information and strategy to them. King has also never stood up for his own party. When Senator Klobuchar and I talked to the minority leader about a simple UCA agreement. I learned that the minority leader is using our bill as leverage for the COPS act. This conversation was in front of the Pro Tem King and he clearly did not want to offer help. He only spoke about a cloture to us and did not offer any other help. Once this conversation was over he continued on his previous conversations in the corner with almost the entirety of the minority party. Clearly showing how King is sitting nice and warm in the pocket of the Republicans.” King has also shown that he does not see an issue with how closely he is acting with the Republicans. Senator Sanders explains, “King later on made an announcement on the floor for members to “listen to Senator Cruz, he is speaking”, as he read a fiction novel during the Republican filibuster for the Protection of Marriage Act while Democrats were consulting each other on strategy. After this, myself and a Democratic staffer consulted him on emphasizing where his loyalty lies in terms of party as that statement could be perceived as his support for the filibuster. Multiple days have gone by. I have been in meetings with King. King has come up to me and spoken on other bills and not once, not once has he mentioned the events of that floor or attempted to facilitate a conversation to apologize." That is the opposite of bipartisan if I heard and saw it. He silenced his own party to recognize a Republican which intended on killing a bill that was very important to not only my future, but all those in and to come in the LGBTQ+ community and interracial marriages. Was this a premeditated decision that you made when talking with Senator Cormyn and Cruz before the session? Why would you do this to your own party and to the people of America?
In regards to the last floor session, I was informed by many that Senator Schumer and Padilla were going to speak on behalf of the bill to try and urge for support from the Republican side. King was aware of this, and he was also aware that there was going to be a filibuster of that same bill. Instead of recognizing his fellow democrats, he recognized Senator Cruz which in the end led to a filibuster and forcing Senator Hirono to withdraw the bill. Choosing Senator Cruz over his own democratic senators shocked everyone in the room. King managed to make a decision in which he compromised a bill that democrats fought so hard to make on the floor. He made a decision in which not only allowed for Senator Cruz to waste time reading a fiction novel, but to kill a bill that was imperative to protecting gay and interracial marriage rights. I am heartbroken, and I hope King is too.
Beyond all of his fraternizing with the Republicans, one of the most serious offenses Senator King was planning to overthrow Majority Leader Hirono. There had been rumors that Senator Hirono was going to be overthrown by many of the Democrats. I did some research and questioned those accused of being a part of the “overthrow” and they all said they were contacted by someone to overthrow her. They revealed that Senator King had been working with Senator McConnell to try and get Hirono out of her
leadership position. Senator King has also been caught with leaking information to the Republicans from the private chat for Democrats only. A Democratic senator that wished to remain anonymous stated, “With the knowledge that messages from the Democratic Caucus are being leaked, there is a sense of distrust in the President Pro Tem.” King has not only obviously betrayed their trust, but he has done the unthinkable to help aid the Republicans by compromising the democratic strategies. Who in their right mind would try to overthrow the Majority leader who is trying to do her job, but they keep getting mistreated and controlled? Senator Hirono not only tries to do her job, but when she tells Senator King to let her do it, he just ignores her and continues to complain that he has to do her job. King is controlling, neglectful, ignorant, power hungry and a traitor. Frankly King makes no sense sometimes, and I start losing brain cells hearing him talk and complain.
I would like to emphasize that bipartisanship is needed in a leader, but the extent of King being too close with the Republicans is concerning. Senator King claims it is because he is an independent but I was informed that when he sits in on the Democratic Caucus and as Pres Pro Temp, he is now a Democrat. He is supposed to lean Democratic due to his position, and in representation of his state Maine. The state of Maine is a generally Democratic state, Maine has been reported to be in the process of turning blue. “King is not acting in the interests of his Democratic constituents,” said Senator Sanders. King is claiming he is attempting to be bipartisan but it looks as if his intentions lie with the benefit of Republicans. He is not representing his own state in which he represents the lovely people of Maine. He is representing what he believes and he does what he wants without consulting others.
King has not only publicly yelled at Democratic leadership, but he has laughed and ignored them. I have witnessed his disrespect with my own eyes and all I can say is that I am appalled. That is not how you treat those you are working with, regardless of your position or personal life. King has made decisions for what he thinks is best without running it by everyone else. King has complained that he is annoyed that he has to do all of Hirono’s job, yet Hirono has told him multiple times that she would do it if he let her. He has continuously attempted to take her job, then complain to make it look as if she is lazy when she is far from it. An anonymous Senator stated, “I think he’s gotten ahead of himself and has gone over the heads of leadership because he thinks he’s doing what is best for the party, but he needs to realize that he doesn’t get to make decisions on his own and needs to trust party leadership.” His distrust with the party leadership is not only disrespectful, but it makes other Senators confused on where King’s loyalty lies. It was also said by a different Senator, “In such a polarizing time, where the GOP refuses to work in a bipartisan manner, his close ties with the Republican Party serve as a disadvantage to the Democratic Party. He should prioritize his work with our strong women leaders more.” King has become way too close to the Republicans,that bipartisanship really isn’t a thing anymore. Senator Schumer says, “Senator King needs to figure out where his priorities lie. Are they with the senators who actually elected him to the Pro Tem position that he now holds, trusting that he would fairly and responsibly represent us? Or does he stand for such extreme bipartisanship to the point of actively supporting Republican bills and agendas over those of his fellow Democratic caucus members. I applaud King and his dedication to reaching across the aisle, but not when it comes at the detriment to his own caucus. His behavior has become increasingly concerning to me, and if this pattern continues I cannot maintain my support for him in this symbolic position.”
In order to hear the extent of King’s affairs with Republicans I asked Republican Senators for statements on King. I found that King is seen as an ally and has helped write Republican legislation. This is suspicious considering he is writing Republican legislation as a Democrat. Senator Cornyn noted that, “He has been a sensible bipartisan voice against Hirono’s radical leftism. He cares about Republican interests.” Caring about Republican interests is good for being a leader, but not to the extent that King is taking it to. He has also been called an ally by many Republican senators in which he has proven to be one to them. Senator Sasse says, “Despite the fact that I had early doubts about Senator King’s leadership, he has proven himself to be more than a formidable ally for the Republican Party in such a divided Congress.” Now what would someone have to do to get Senator Ben Sasse to change their opinion on them? Senator Sasse at the start of the sessions stated on my show that he regretted voting for King, now he is “more than a formidable ally”?! I think that is enough proof on its own that he is working too closely with Republicans. He is doing more for them than his own party and it is shown through these testimonies. Sasse also pointed out that, “He’s done a fine job as Pro Tem and he holds similar qualms about some of the decisions that Democrats have made in the past.” King is publicly condemning the decisions of the Democratic leadership to the opposing side. Now that is not right. Instead of consulting with the Democratic leadership about his concerns, he went and told the opposing side, showing he would rather be in their favor than work to better the party he is a leader of. This promotes the image of not only division within the Democratic party, but weakness within leadership. Senator Blackburn has been working with King on a bill and she had to say, “Senator King has been extremely helpful to me personally in way of discussing bills and legislation. He was even willing to work with me on a bill recently that I am very thankful for. Though it’s been difficult for myself personally as
none of my bills have been sent to committee, King has been helpful in sending certain Republican written legislation to committee which I am grateful for in general.” Senator King has worked with many other Senators in creating very conservative bills, which raises some concerns of if he is a symbolic representation of the Democratic party. I myself am uncertain, but all signs point toward him being double-dealing across the aisle a little too closely. His acts of “bipartisanship” are almost coming off as if he wants to switch parties.
Senator King I do not demand or encourage you to step down, but simply to decide where your loyalty lies. We the people need to see your leadership align with your position and beliefs of your constituents. We need to see you showing more loyalty to your party and more care for them. Your strong relationships with the leaders of the Republican party and others is concerning. Now, I do not recommend cutting ties with the Republicans but I recommend working with your own party and fellow leaders more closely. It is important that we have a President Pro Tem that stands with his party, and does not try to stab them in the back. If you cannot do so, step down and allow someone who knows how to actually do their job properly, hold this position.
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