Mitch McConnell Pushes Back Against Biden Nominee

(HorizonPost.com) – President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms [sic] and Explosives (ATF) is David Chipman. He’s currently facing pushback from Republican senators during his ongoing confirmation hearing. As part of the process, Chipman submitted a 38-page questionnaire to the Committee on the Judiciary. However, he reportedly omitted one major problem from the wealth of information he provided.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), during a speech on the floor of the Senate, called on President Biden to withdraw the nomination altogether. He noted two controversies during a TV interview: allegations of racially charged comments and a reputation Chipman earned as “a bully, an activist,” continuing on to tell the president that “the Senate has spent quite enough time flirting with this profoundly misguided nomination.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said during the weekend that President Joe Biden should withdraw David Chipman's nomination to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. https://t.co/EfrMRKaA7i

— Newsmax (@newsmax) August 9, 2021

In December 2012, reports say that Chipman appeared on the Chinese Communist Party-run China Global Television Network (CGTN — then known as CCTV) and gave their propaganda mill the prize of a former ATF agent speaking about the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting, promoting his pro-gun-control point of view that’s disputed by many Conservatives. This allegedly allowed them to deflect attention from 23 Chinese schoolchildren who had been stabbed in a two-for-one deal. This information was not provided on the above-mentioned questionnaire.

The second controversy revolves around allegations against Chipman that he made discriminatory comments when he was an active agent about the number of Black agents who had passed promotion tests. Tom Jones, president of the American Accountability Foundation, told The Daily Caller that a former ATF agent accused Chipman of saying, “They must have been cheating.” Considering the ATF head’s responsibilities and the words Senator McConnell used during his speech, it’s not unreasonable to think the nominee may not be a great fit.