Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell put out a scathing video mocking Democratic senators for voting “present” on the Green New Deal late Tuesday, despite touting the importance of the proposal for weeks.
McConnell, R-Ky., held a vote on the Green New Deal Tuesday, forcing Democrats to go on the record with their support, or opposition, to the non-binding resolution.
The Senate failed to reach the 60 votes necessary to begin debate on the proposal, with 42 Democrats and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., voting “present.” Democrats held back in protest of McConnell's decision to bring the measure to the floor, which they regarded as a stunt.
But Republicans are already mocking Democrats for doing so. The McConnell video includes ample footage of Democratic senators praising the proposal, which Republicans like McConnell have called a “radical, top-down, socialist makeover of the entire U.S. economy.”
GREEN NEW DEAL FAILS SENATE TEST VOTE AS DOZENS OF DEMOCRATS VOTE 'PRESENT'
The video opens with Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., chanting: “What do we want?” with a crowd responding “Green New Deal.” Merkley chants back: “And when do we want it?” welcoming the response of “now!”
It cuts to Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., who has announced his 2020 White House bid, saying that “our planet is in peril, and we need to be bold.”
Then, a clip of Sanders telling co-hosts of ABC’s “The View” that the Green New Deal does not go too far.
“You cannot go too far on the issue of climate change,” Sanders says.
It includes clips of a host of other 2020 Democratic hopefuls like Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and Kirstin Gillibrand, D-N.Y., voicing their support for the proposal.
“Green New Deal—I’m in all the way,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is heard saying.
OBAMA WARNS DEM FRESHMEN ON COST OF THEIR PROPOSALS
But on Tuesday, when it came time to get on the record, no senator voted to begin debate on the legislation, while 57 lawmakers voted against proceeding. Democratic Sens. Doug Jones of Alabama, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona joined 53 Republicans in voting “no.” Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, who caucuses with the Democrats, also voted “no.”
The rest of the senators, including the proposal co-sponsor, Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., voted “present.”
The Green New Deal, which Markey and co-sponsor freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., rolled out earlier this year, is a massive overhaul of the nation’s economy and energy use, with an estimated cost that could reach well into the tens of trillions of dollars.
Fox News' Samuel Chamberlain contributed to this report.