McConnell: 'Pretty Obvious...What Happened': Independents and Moderates Were 'Frightened' of Some in GOP

As some Republicans blame Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for failing to regain control of the Senate, McConnell on Tuesday blamed "people in our party leadership" for "frightening independent and moderate" voters.

He appeared to be talking about Donald Trump, who campaigned with or endorsed many of the Republican candidates who lost their elections.

McConnell also told the news conference he doesn't "own" the job of minority leader, and "anybody in the conference is certainly entitled to challenge me," as Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) has done.

"I have the votes, I will be elected," McConnell said. "The only issue is whether we do it sooner or later, and I think we'll probably have another discussion about that tomorrow (Wednesday)."

Some Republicans want McConnell to delay the leadership election until the Senate runoff in Georgia is completed on Dec. 6.

A reporter noted that Rick Scott and other Republicans have criticized McConnell for failing to produce an agenda for Republican candidates to run on, which allowed Democrats to say Republicans "didn't really stand for anything."