Kelly Lake | Fox News
August 7, 2021
‘It is long past time the Biden administration revisit this decision,’ McConnell said about David Chipman’s nomination
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., blasted Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) nominee David Chipman during remarks on the Senate floor, asking the Biden administration to “stop flirting with this profoundly misguided nomination.”
McConnell delivered a speech on the Senate floor Saturday amid ongoing debate over the bipartisan infrastructure bill. The minority leader called for more amendments to the bill and blasted the Democrats’ spending plan as the “Senator Sanders socialist shopping list,” while also bringing up several new controversies surrounding Biden’s embattled ATF nominee.
Fox News exclusively reported this week that Chipman failed to disclose to the Senate a media appearance on a Chinese state-run media network, China Global Television Network (CGTN), which may have been used as propaganda by the communist state to cover up a mass stabbing of children.
“Earlier this week, news reports indicated that Mr. Chairman had failed to disclosure to our colleagues on the Judiciary Committee a TV appearance he made several years ago,” stated McConnell. “And this wasn’t just any TV appearance. Mr. Chipman had granted the interview to a propaganda network overseen by the Chinese government.”
McConnell also expressed concerns over new racially discriminatory comments Chipman allegedly made regarding personnel decisions. A report by The Reload recently corroborated allegations that Chipman made racially insensitive comments about the promotion of Black ATF agents in the past.
“Among some current and former ATF agents he’s earned a concerning reputation as ‘a bully, an activist.’ His extreme views threaten to undermine the trust an agency needs to conduct oversight. And sources at the ATF have also come forward describing allegedly racially discriminatory comments that nominee made in the workplace, regarding personnel decisions.”
“The Senate has spent quite enough time flirting with this profoundly misguided nomination. The American people deserve a trustworthy steward leading the ATF, with a record of respecting their rights and respecting his or her colleagues.”
McConnell concluded, “It is long past time the Biden administration revisit this decision and send us somebody who fits that description.”
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on Thursday blasted the “troubling allegations” surrounding Chipman, stating that his nomination raises “very serious concerns” because of his work with pro-gun-control groups like Giffords and Everytown, and due to new, “disturbing” allegations of racism and of participating in communist propaganda.
The 11 GOP senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee are demanding Chipman face a second hearing, which Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., has previously denied.
Kelly Laco is a news and politics editor for Fox News.