How Republican Senators Really Felt About Darren Bailey
A Republican Senator unloaded on former Sen. Darren Bailey over Bailey’s political ambition and lack of success in the legislature.
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In his two years in the Senate, Darren Bailey made little headway passing legislation or having much impact on policy discussions.
Rumors long simmered that Bailey had a contentious relationship with his Senate Republican colleagues. As Bailey has launched a campaign for Congress in a primary against incumbent Congressman Mike Bost (R-Murphysboro), those GOP issues were brought squarely into the open.
Speaking on GOP strategist Collin Corbett’s podcast from the State Fair last week, Sen. Steve McClure (R-Springfield) criticized Bailey for his efforts to jump from office to office. Bailey’s run for congress is the fourth office he’s seeking in eight years.
“All Darren Bailey ever does is run for office,” McClure said. “He ran for school board, he ran for state rep, he ran for state senate, he ran for Governor. The only office he served in any capacity for any length of time was on the school board and he voted for 15 property tax increases.”
McClure also referred to Bailey as a “clown” during the interview claiming Bailey’s poor performance in the gubernatorial race lost Republicans “several” down ballot contests.
He said Bailey was never active in his Senate work.
“If we were ever in caucus having a meeting about something, all he is doing, and I mean this, is sitting by himself, doesn’t make any comments. He’s just checking his social media to see how many likes he has on his Facebook posts,” McClure said. “He’s like a 14-year-old kid who just wants to be a TikTok star or Facebook star. It’s his only goal in life.”
Bailey has made his evangelical conservative tendencies the corner of his political persona. But McClure called it all an act.
“He’s got no morals, he’s got no ethics, he’s got no principles, as far as I can tell. He’s a total phony. This guy is as phony as they come,” McClure said. “Darren is really just a guy who wants attention. That’s all he is. And he’s a guy that has been very bad for our party. This is a party of personal responsibility. He is taking no personal responsibility for anything he has ever done in his life and he’s basically been living on government welfare for the last four years. Because, as a Representative and a Senator he [didn’t] pass any bills, he [didn’t] kill any bills.”
Bailey endorsed McClure’s opponent in the 2022 primary.
We asked Bailey’s campaign for a response to McClure’s comments and they did not respond Monday.