President Barack Obama's blatant threat to veto legislation approving construction of the Keystone XL pipeline shows that he is "controlled by the far left environmental extremists in this country," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, said.
McConnell, appearing on Fox News' "The Kelly File," said he is "not very optimistic" that Congress and the president can work together to realize major achievements during the last two lame-duck years of the Obama administration, "based on what's happened so far.
"I've certainly been discouraged by what the president has done since the election," McConnell said. "He seems to be on a crusade to continue to do things with executive orders."
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Asked by host Megyn Kelly whether it would help if McConnell played golf with the president or stopped by the White House for drinks, McConnell, laughing, said, "The issue is not lack of schmoozing. The issue is the president is very left wing.
"He does not want to do most of the things the American people think make good sense. That's why we had the election that we had last November."
A bill to approve construction of the pipeline has been offered by Sen. John Hoeven, R-North Dakota, and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia.
The bill is headed for a Senate vote shortly, with 54 Republican and six Democratic co-sponsors, in a showdown with Obama, who pledged Tuesday to veto it, citing the ongoing court case in Nebraska,
The Hill reports.
However, the Nebraska court on Friday tossed the lawsuit, which could have blocked the $7 billion project,
ABC News reports, removing one Obama justification for his veto.
"If he (Obama) chooses to sign the things that we can put on his desk, great," McConnell said on Fox. "If he doesn't, at least the American people will know who the obstructionist is."
Approval of the pipeline is "a decision he's (Obama) been sitting on for five years, that would put literally thousands of people to work very quickly, supported by 70 percent of the American people, and help us embrace this remarkable energy revolution that's going on in our country," McConnell told Fox News.
"Everybody sees that at the moment with low gas prices, and yet the president says he'll veto it."
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People's Pundit Daily poll shows that 72 percent of Americans approve of construction of the Keystone pipeline.
"We had this vote back in December when (former Sen.) Mary Landrieu (D-Louisiana) was in her final runoff election. The president didn't utter a word about vetoing it, and now that the very same bill is being called up by a Republican majority leader, he threatens to veto it.
"I think we get the message, He is controlled by the far left environmental extremists in this country."
As to whether he can muster Democratic support in the Senate for bills Republicans would like to see passed, McConnell said, "I think there's a pool of Democrats that have had it with the president, have had it with the way the Senate used to be run, and would like to be part of accomplishing things."