Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, one of the worst people on the planet, said Tuesday that the impeachment process that consumed Congress for months this winter distracted lawmakers from the looming coronavirus crisis.

“It came up while we were tied down with the impeachment trial,” McConnell said on Hugh Hewitt’s radio program. “And I think it diverted the attention of the government because everything every day was about impeachment.”

Trump has come under sharp criticism for the nation’s slow response to the spreading pandemic, especially for the shortage of coronavirus testing kits when the virus first spread to the United States.

More than 160,000 Americans have tested positive for COVID-19 and more than 3,000 people have died from the virus in the country.

Senators received a classified coronavirus briefing from federal health officials on Jan. 24. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Chair Lamar Alexander told lawmakers prior to the briefing: “The novel coronavirus is an emerging public health threat. Senators will have the opportunity to hear directly from senior government health officials regarding what we know about the virus so far and how our country is prepared to respond as the situation develops.”

Sen. Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican, also sounded the alarm in January, calling it “the biggest and most important story in the world,” and urging the government to take steps to stop the spread of the virus.

McConnell told Hewitt, “Tom was right on the mark…Tom figured this out early, and he was absolutely right.”

Twitter quickly dismissed McConnell’s accusation:

Trump held rallies on:
—January 9th
—January 14th
—January 28th
—January 30th
—February 10th
—February 19th
—February 20th
—February 21st
—February 28th

He golfed on:
—January 18th
—January 19th
—February 1st
—February 15th
—March 7th
—March 8th https://t.co/cBPQHLmDdC

— Roger Tansey 🌊🌊🌊 (@rogertansey) March 31, 2020

Mitch McConnell is merely the worst American alive. He blames impeachment for the government dragging its feet on COVID-19. The man has to look up to see down. @senatemajldr https://t.co/o6uWr9pjqy

— Brian J. Karem (@BrianKarem) March 31, 2020

That reprobate McConnell, who is a professional whiner, says that the impeachment took away from Congress’s ability to deal with the pandemic. In my view, McConnell never took either seriously. The president was warned and he did nothing. Vote for Amy McGrath and “Ditch Mitch”

— American Veteran (@amvetsupport) March 31, 2020

By blaming Dems/Impeachment for the coronavirus crisis, McConnell is admitting Trump's response has been a disaster, b/c you don't blame other people for the nonexistence of something. McConnell's finger pointing marks a transition from Trump's, "We're doing an amazing job",…1/ https://t.co/q2fKK9iBrz

— Nick Carmody JD, MS Psych (@Nick_Carmody) March 31, 2020

Think about this:

In order to accept McConnell's absurd claim that impeachment was the reason Trump screwed up the coronavirus response, you have to accept that the response was screwed up.

You don't say that the sun was in your eye unless you dropped the ball.

— Bill Prady (@billprady) March 31, 2020