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Monday, Dec 17, 2012 9:26 PM UTC

Listen to Mitch McConnell’s long silence on gun control

The Senate minority leader greets gun control questions by going 26 seconds without saying a word VIDEO

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Topics: Mitch McConnell, Gun Control, Newtown school shooting, Republicans, Marco Rubio,

Listen to Mitch McConnell's long silence on gun control (Credit: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

As we wrote earlier, Republicans in Congress have mostly greeted calls for tougher gun laws with radio silence. Now, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has greeted questions about gun control with actual silence.

CNN’s Lisa Desjardins questioned the Senate minority leader on Capitol Hill about his stance on gun laws in the wake of the Newtown, Conn., shootings, and got no response after several follow-ups.

She tweeted the audio, and set the scene: “There are no visuals, but as you listen, realize it was just him and me, walking from the Senate chamber to his office. I was maybe an arm’s length away. But, in classic McConnell style, he kept staring forward, ignoring even the awkward silence. It seemed to say a lot.”

As Evan McMorris-Santoro of TPM points out, McConnell does not usually take questions from reporters in the Senate halls, but he also did not address the issue during a floor speech on Monday.

Jillian Rayfield is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on politics. Follow her on Twitter at @jillrayfield or email her at jrayfield@salon.com. More Jillian Rayfield.

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