Indiana senator on Mitch McConnell: 'We need to be more than the party of no'

When asked Wednesday about Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's future in the Republican Party, Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) said Republicans "need to do more than being the party of 'no'" and should focus on creating a "small, effective government."

Sen. Braun was asked on the "Just the News" TV show about whether McConnell will continue to be "the Republican leader in the Senate." 

McConnell on Tuesday called the Jan. 6 Capitol riot a "violent insurrection" and criticized the Republican National Committee's censure of Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.).

"I think as Republicans — and I think Trump represented it — we need to do more than being the party of 'no', or 'I'm not interested.' It's got to be with small, effective government," Braun said, without directly answering the question about McConnell's future in Senate leadership.

"I'll say this, hardly anybody that's been here a long time has pushed that kind of conservatism," he said. 

Braun then praised former President Donald Trump for dismantling regulations and helping small businesses.

"We were starting to dismantle some of that regulatory environment," he told show cohosts John Solomon and Amanda Head. "We need some [regulation], we don't need to be overburdened with it. Remember, Trump's goal was to remove three for every one new one you'd put in there." 

Woke corporations and big government are growing again with Trump out of office, Braun noted.

If Republicans do not continue building on what Trump did for the economy, Braun said "that would be shameful because we'd slide back into that journey towards a hard turn into the ditch."

Braun said Republicans need to have answers for larger policy issues rather than standing against things.

"When we were against Obamacare, we should have been for reforming a broken health care industry that has no transparency and competition. We had no answer," he said, recalling McConnell's work to block the Affordable Care Act.

Braun was not the only lawmaker to criticize McConnell on Wednesday during the "Just the News" show. 

Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), former House Freedom Caucus chair, said McConnell's reaction to the censorship of Cheney and Kinzinger proves Republicans are the "stupid party."

"Someone once said, 'There are two parties in America: the dangerous party and the stupid party.' And I belong to the stupid party," Biggs said, slamming Cheney and Kinzinger for wanting "to emasculate and destroy the Republican Party in Congress."

"They want to throw people off the ballot, they want to throw Republicans in jail, and quite frankly, they want to kick people out of Congress now who are Republicans. How in the world can Mitch McConnell defend that? He should listen to what our Republican base, what our Republican state leaders have to say and not listen to what the establishment in Washington, D.C., says."

Former President Trump criticized McConnell on Wednesday, saying he "does not speak for the Republican Party, and does not represent the views of the vast majority of its voters."