As many Senate Republicans either refused to answer questions about the police assault on peaceful protesters in the nation’s capital Monday or openly praised President Donald Trump for the brutal crackdown, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday blocked the passage of a Democratic resolution condemning Trump for violating the constitutional rights of demonstrators by “ordering federal officers to use gas and rubber bullets” against them.

Senate Democrats attempted to pass the non-binding resolution by unanimous consent, but the Kentucky Republican objected and put forth his own measure that stripped out any mention of the president.

“It’s very simple why the Republican leader objected to our resolution and offered this one instead,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a floor speech, referring to McConnell’s alternative resolution. “It’s because they do not want to condemn what the president did, though every fair-minded American of any political party would.”

In an appearance on MSNBC Tuesday evening as mass protests over the police killing of George Floyd continued in the nation’s capital and across the country, Schumer called the Senate GOP’s […]