Colbert Had the Most Savage Response to McConnell's 'Scorched Earth' Threat If Democrats Kill the Filibuster

Democrats took a razor-thin majority in the Senate earlier this year thanks to a pair of key victories in Georgia, but the filibuster threatens to kneecap any chance of passing the bold legislation they promised their voters.

The filibuster—which imposes a 60 vote threshold on most bills—was never a part of the Constitution, but Republicans and some moderate Democrats insist that it's necessary to give the minority party a voice in the chamber.

As of now, Democrats don't have the votes to completely eliminate the filibuster, but many of those opposed to its complete abolishment—like Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia—have expressed an openness to its reform.

But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), in a scathing floor speech earlier this week, warned Democrats that any attempt to do away with the 60 vote threshold would result in a scorched earth Senate the likes of which they had never seen before.

Watch below.

McConnell told his colleagues:

"Nobody serving in this chamber can even begin to imagine what a completely scorched earth Senate would look like."

Until January 20th, McConnell served as Senate Majority Leader, a tenure defined by his eagerness to ram through Republican initiatives and kill Democratic ones.

In 2016, after the death of the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, McConnell refused to hold a Senate hearing to even consider then-President Barack Obama's nominee for his replacement, despite the President's Constitutional mandate to appoint one. The Supreme Court was with only eight Justices for a year as a result. McConnell's reasoning? It was too close to the election, which was 10 months away.

Flash forward to 2020 and the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. McConnell rammed through now-Justice Amy Coney Barrett's nomination, even though early voting had already begun for the 2020 election.

McConnell even became known as the "grim reaper" of the Senate for his insistence on killing any legislation sent by the Democratic-led House of Representatives.

So when reflecting on McConnell's warning in an interview with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), late night talk show host Stephen Colbert dismissed the threat with a sobering point.

Watch below.

Colbert said:

"What could possibly be more scorched earth than the way Mitch McConnell would just run roughshod the past four to eight years, really? Isn't he threatening that if you do this, Mitch McConnell would continue to be Mitch McConnell?"

Schumer echoed the sentiment, vowing that McConnell's warning wouldn't deter Democrats' determination.

Colbert's assertion and Schumer's response to it were met with widespread agreement.

McConnell already created a scorched earth Senate.

The Senate will soon take up the For The People Act, a landmark voting rights bill recently passed by the House. It's likely to make the filibuster talks even more urgent.