Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., condemned the "abhorrent" shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, that was carried out by a "completely deranged young man." But the senator from Kentucky did not comment in detail on replacement theory.
Instead, according to The Hill, McConnell shifted the blame toward the 18-year-old shooter Payton Gendron's mental state while condemning racism generally.
When asked by reporters if he felt any responsibility as a leader in the GOP to speak out against replacement theory, McConnell replied, "this horrible episode in Buffalo is the result of a completely deranged young man who ought to suffer the severest possible penalty under the law."
Responding earlier to a call from President Joe Biden to condemn replacement theory, McConnell said, "racism of any sort is abhorrent in America and ought to be stood up to by everybody, both Republicans, Democrats, all Americans."
Later, an aide to McConnell would go on to cite the GOP's condemnation of racism covered replacement theory.
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