TWC News VIDEO: Watch the full speech given by Senator Mitch McConnell on Day 2 of the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
Below are McConnell's full remarks, as prepared for delivery and provided by convention officials.
Ladies and gentlemen, I’ve been around a while.
And I’ve been around the Clintons more than anybody should ever have to. A couple years ago, Bill and Hillary camped out in my state telling anybody who’d listen why they ought to vote against me. Tonight I’m here to return the favor.
I am a patient man. As a young child in the South, I was struck with polio and forced to stay off my feet for two years.
That experience taught me an abiding gratitude for my parents. And it taught me how to wait, which comes in handy when you’re leading the U.S. Senate. More than anything, though, my job has taught me the value of trust … how to distinguish between people who are in this to serve others and people who are in it for themselves.
I am here to tell you Hillary Clinton will say anything, do anything, and be anything to get elected president. And we cannot allow it.
The American People are tired of hearing about the bounty of government while the cost of caring for a family or meeting daily expenses grows out of reach. Over the past few years, they’ve seen government officials abuse their office and get rewarded for it. They’ve seen the middle class shrink. And in the midst of all this they have raised a simple complaint. Who is looking out for us? It is not Hillary,
I’ve had my differences with Barack Obama, but l will give him this. At least he was up front about his plans to move America to the left.
Not Hillary.
She lied about her emails. She lied about her server. She lied about Benghazi. She lied about sniper fire. She even lied about why her parents named her Hillary. So I ask a simple question. At a moment when so many feel betrayed by their government.
Wy in the world would Democrats put forward such a candidate? Hillary has changed her positions so many times it’s impossible to tell where conviction ends and ambition begins. In 2010, she said Iran could enrich uranium. In 2014 she said she’s always argued against it.
Once a backer of the Keystone pipeline, last year she opposed it. She used to be against sanctuary cities. Then she claimed to be for them. Who knows where she is now. Friends, not since Baghdad Bob has there been a public figure with such a tortured relationship with the truth. There is a clear choice before us. And it is not Hillary.
You know what the next four years will look like with Hillary. And you know that if Hillary is president, we will continue to slide, distracted by the scandals that follow the Clintons like flies. Two years ago, voters delivered a clear verdict on the Obama years by sending a freshmen class of rock star Republicans to the Senate and delivering us a majority that I promised to make you proud of. We’d never hesitate to confront this President. But we’d also do the hard work of tackling urgent problems head on. We have delivered on that promise. We put an Obamacare repeal bill on the President’s desk. He vetoed it. Trump would sign it.
We passed a bill to finally build the Keystone Pipeline. He vetoed it. Trump would sign it. We passed a bill to defund Planned Parenthood. Obama vetoed it. Trump would sign it. And on that sad day when we lost the great Antonin Scalia, I made another pledge that Barack Obama would not fill this seat. That honor will go to Donald Trump.
With Donald Trump in the White House, Senate Republicans will build on the work we’ve done and pass more bills into law than any Senate in years. We passed the first major education reform in more than a decade, and ended common core.
We made the first significant reforms to Social Security in three decades. We passed a crucial cybersecurity bill. We imposed sanctions on North Korea. We passed the first major highway bill in more than a decade. We passed a bill to combat the scourge of human trafficking.
And just last week we passed, and the president signed, the first major law aimed at confronting the heartbreaking explosion of opioid and heroin abuse. Keep the Senate in Republican hands and we will continue this work. And the remarkable public servants that I am proud to lead in the Senate will not let you down. But put Hillary Clinton in the White House and I promise you this. She will double down on the cynical approach that Senate Democrats seem to revel in these days.
Here’s what I mean.
As we sit here tonight, a terrifying mosquito-borne illness threatens expectant mothers and their babies along the Southern Coast. And just last week, Clinton Democrats in the Senate blocked a bill aimed at eradicating that virus before it spread.
They blocked a defense funding bill. A bill that would support the brave men and women who are right now defending us overseas. What do these people think public service is about? I don’t know.
But I know this. If Hillary Clinton is our president, nothing will change. So tonight, I ask you to let us continue our work. Let’s put justices on the Supreme Court who cherish our Constitution. Let's keep the Senate! And let's elect a President and Vice President who really believe America is exceptional.