Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) was confronted at a restaurant Friday by a small group of angry diners who were upset with him over the issue of Social Security.
McConnell and his wife, Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao, were eating dinner at the popular Cuban restaurant Havana Rumba in Louisville when four men approached the majority leader. The main aggressor screamed at McConnell, "Why don't you get out of here? Why don't you leave the entire country?" according to a video obtained by TMZ.
The woman who recorded the video told TMZ that the guy screaming at McConnell slammed hist fists on his table, grabbed his to-go bag, and threw his food out the door of the restaurant before she could start recording. She also said the man was angry with McConnell over health care and Social Security, saying he was screaming that McConnell was "killing people" with his policies.
Several of the other diners in the restaurant responded to the man by telling him to leave McConnell alone and to "just get out." He responded by telling them that "they’re going to come for Social Security." The woman said McConnell kept his cool during the encounter and then thanked some of his supporters after the incident.
This isn't the first time McConnell and his wife have been confronted in public. A group of protesters approached them as they were leaving an event at Georgetown University back in June, prompting Chao to tell them to "leave my husband alone." The protesters asked them about the Trump administration's policy of separating illegal immigrant parents from their children at the border.
We confronted @SenateMajLdr and @SecElaineChao with @ProPublica audio of children separated from their families at the border while leaving a @Georgetown event. We must #AbolishICE & #AbolishCBP! #FreedomforImmigrants pic.twitter.com/ljv70F3F0L
— Roberto (@RobertoChicanX) June 26, 2018
McConnell didn't respond, but Chao did, walking right up to the small group.
"Why don't you leave my husband alone? Why don't you leave my husband alone?" she asked.
"Why is he separating families?" one protester asked.
"He is not!" Chao said.
McConnell was confronted by more protesters in July as he left a restaurant in Louisville. The protesters reportedly yelled, "abolish ICE" and "no justice, no peace," prompting to McConnell to take a jab at them on Twitter after the incident.
"I see what they did here. They waited until Elaine wasn’t around," McConnell tweeted.