Duringa memorial service for the late Baltimore lawmakerat the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, McConnell, 77, appeared caught off guard when Rankin, a pallbearer at the ceremony, skipped over him while shaking hands with leading legislators. Footage of the awkward moment went viral, with many online pointing out McConnell’s seemingly surprised reaction.
A resident of Charlotte, North Carolina, Rankin, 64, told thePostin a story published Monday that he chose to single out McConnell because of what he said was the Kentucky lawmaker’s impact on his own late brother’s life.
“When I saw Mitch McConnell, all I saw was my brother’s face,” Rankin told the paper.
A year ago, Rankin’s brother, Jerry, died from cancer, according to thePost. Jerrywas exposedto contaminated water while in the Marines, thePostreported, and Rankin said that Jerry didn’t get his veterans’ benefits in the final months of his life.
Rankin said Cummings — a longtime friend — made an effort to resolve the matter at the time, but that McConnell blocked it. He did not elaborate, according to thePost, which reported: “Rankin wasn’t clear about exactly why his brother didn’t receive VA benefits or McConnell’s precise role in Jerry’s battle to get them after his cancer returned in 2016.”
McConnell’s office did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Melina Mara-Pool/Getty
“Elijah Cummings reached across party lines trying to help my brother get his military benefits, and Mitch McConnell was one of the persons he reached out to,” Rankin told thePost.
He also acknowledged House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was standing to McConnell’s right.
“I could not put my hands in the man’s hand who refused to help somebody who served his country … I couldn’t do it, because I was thinking about my brother,” Rankin told thePost.
At the service last Thursday, McConnell went on to eulogize Cummings.
“He knew there was only one reason why a son of sharecroppers, a child who had literally had to bear the injuries of bigotry and segregation, could graduate from law school and eventually chair a powerful committee in Congress,” McConnellsaid in his speech. “Only one reason: because principled leaders had fought to give kids like him a chance.”
Mitch McConnell.Al Drago-Pool/Getty
McConnell continued: “Chairman Cummings made it his life’s work to continue that effort. He climbed the ranks here in the Capitol, not because he outgrew his hometown but because he was so committed to it.”
Cummings, a Democrat from Maryland,diedon Oct. 17 at 68. Former presidentsBarack ObamaandBill Clintonattended aseparate servicein Baltimore on Friday.
Reflecting on Cummings’ legacy, Rankin told thePost: “When I carry him to his grave, if I could say something to him, I would say something I said to him many, many times before: What a mighty, mighty man he is.”
source: people.com
