McConnell calls China, Russia, Iran new 'axis of evil'

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on Sunday deemed China, Russia and Iran the new "axis of evil" amid wars in Ukraine and Israel, while addressing U.S. funding of allies' responses to those duel conflicts. In a new sit-down interview with "Fox News Sunday" host Shannon Bream, McConnell, the highest-ranking Senate Republican, agreed with fellow Republican Kentuckian Sen. Rand Paul that the $1.5 trillion deficit is "entirely too big." But while Paul remarked last month that the U.S. under the Biden administration was borrowing heavily from China just to send aid to Ukraine, McConnell instead emphasized Sunday that the deficit also expanded during the prior administration under former President Donald Trump. "You have to respond to conditions that actually exist that are a threat to the United States. The Iranians are a threat to us as well. And so, this is an emergency. It’s an emergency that we step up and deal with this axis of evil – China, Russia, Iran – because it’s an immediate threat to the United States," McConnell said.