Congressman is fawning to MAGA because 'Mitch McConnell didn't love him': Ex-senator

Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) has sold out everything he believes in, in a quest to seek approval from Republican Party leadership, argued former Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO), who said in a pre-presidential debate panel on MSNBC that "Mitch McConnell didn't love him" and gave Lee a cold welcome.

The remark came amid a scathing new analysis of Utah's junior senator by The Atlantic's Tim Alberta, highlighting his evolution from a small-government conservative repulsed by Trump to a full-on MAGA disciple ingratiating himself for influence.

Part of the issue, said McCaskill, is that Lee, who defeated longtime establishment Republican Utah Sen. Bob Bennett in 2010 as part of the Tea Party wave, never got off on the right foot with his colleagues because of how he was elected.

"When Mike Lee came to the Senate, he had defeated a really good guy," said McCaskill. "I mean, Senator Bennett was the nicest man. He was full of integrity, kind, thoughtful and beloved by his colleagues in the Senate, and Mike Lee went after him in a way that many of those senators were offended by."

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The result of that bitterness, said McCaskill, is that "When Mike Lee got there ... he was not welcomed by Mitch McConnell the way he thought he should have been, and if you look at Lindsey Graham and Mike Lee, really it's about wanting to be in the room with the guy with the power. They want to be approved of. They want to be part of the gang. Part of their ambition is tied up in wanting to be close to the guy that's in charge, and in that process Mike Lee just ditched everything he believed in and everything his family stood for."

"It is a terrible tragedy, and it's very sad," McCaskill added. "It could be an opera, you know?"

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