McConnell cites Obama in reparations debate: 'We both are the descendants of slave owners'

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell responded Tuesday to reports that his 19th-century ancestors owned slaves by pointing out that the same was true of former President Barack Obama — and that they were in agreement on the issue of slavery reparations.

“You know, I find myself in the same position as President Obama,” McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters on Capitol Hill when asked whether his ancestry influenced his opposition to reparations for African-Americans. “We both oppose reparations, and we both are the descendants of slave owners.”

NBC News reported Wednesday that two of McConnell’s great-great-grandfathers, James McConnell and Richard Daley, between them owned at least 14 slaves in Alabama before the Civil War. The records were traced using Limestone County “slave schedules” in the 1850 and 1860 censuses, NBC reported.

On the eve of a June hearing in the U.S. House of Representatives on whether the U.S. government should pay reparations to the descendants of slaves, McConnell threw cold water on the idea.