Hoping to win his seventh term in office, McConnell is trying a new tactic this time around. In addition to touting his powerful perch in the Senate and the good it does for his home state of Kentucky, the majority leader and his very online advisers are also attempting to cement his unlikely status as a right-wing internet folk hero. Rubbing the Garland failure in the faces of liberals is just part of it.

“If you spend more than two seconds online you will encounter some left-wing troll invoking Merrick Garland as justification for all brands of hate towards McConnell,” said Josh Holmes, a longtime former aide to McConnell. “He knows this is a partisan viewpoint, and frankly it doesn’t bother him, so he chooses to have a sense of humor about it rather than wring his hands and be a scold like so many in politics.”…

In some conservative internet circles, McConnell GIF’s have become common additions to tweets and posts. Images of the majority leader smirking have become synonymous with “owning the libs.” And McConnell, in turn, has embraced the idea that his most significant achievements, like blocking Garland and pushing Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination through the Senate, continue to gin up outrage on the left.