GOP Sen. Rounds: McConnell Capable Leader — He ‘Is Sharp and Shrewd’

Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was fully capable of being leader after he froze and was unresponsive twice during press conferences.

Rounds said, “I spoke with Mitch yesterday afternoon and told him I was going to be doing an interview, and I waned to personally touch base with him before I did that and he was in good shape. He was direct. He said, you know, I had that concussion and they warned me that I would be light headed in the future and to be aware of it. And it happened twice and it just happened I’m doing it in front of reporters. But he felt good yesterday. He said he’s got to watch his hydration levels.”

He continued, “Mitch is sharp and shrewd. He understands what needs to be done. I’ll leave it up to him as to how he wants to discuss that with the American public but there is no doubt in my mind that he is perfectly capable of continuing on at this stage of the game and he has a good team around him and a good job of developing that leadership team.”

Anchor Dana Bash said, “So you’re comfortable with him staying on as leader?”

Rounds said, “Oh, yes. There are a lot of folks that would like to see him go because he’s a capable leader, and if you could take him out of the leadership role in advance, you might end up in a better position if you were a competitor of his.”

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