Senate GOP leader 'couldn't disagree with Joe Barton more'

The Senate minority leader Sunday joined a chorus of Republicans who disagree with Rep. Joe Barton's (R-TX) apology to BP.

"How do you counter the Democrats' argument that Republicans care more about oil companies than they do about the environment?" Fox News' Chris Wallace asked Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

"That's nonsense. I couldn't disagree with Joe Barton more. BP doesn't need an apology. They need to apologize to us and they certainly need to cover all the costs of the clean-up and the economic damages as well. And they're going to," answered McConnell.

Barton shocked fellow Republicans Thursday when he told BP he was sorry that the government was forcing them to pay up for a spill they were responsible for.

"I'm not speaking for anybody else, but I apologize. I do not want to live in a country where any time a citizen or a corporation does something that is legitimately wrong and is subject to some sort of political pressure that is, again, in my words, amounts to a shakedown. So I apologize," said Barton.

The minority leader seized on the question as an opportunity to attack Democrats. "It's important to remember the President of the United States, I believe, is the biggest recipient of BP political contributions when he ran," said McConnell.

"I think the administration -- you know, the president, himself, is in charge of developing a contingency plan to deal with oil spills. What happened to it? We know there are skimmers around the world that could be sent here. Where are they? The administration has a role to play in this. They haven't done a very good job so far," he said.

This video is from Fox's Fox News Sunday, broadcast June 20, 2010.

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