Mitch McConnell warns Kentucky about coronavirus surge as Trump downplays pandemic

"We're seeing a surge in Florida and Texas and Arizona and yes, here in Kentucky."

It's a far different message than what's being espoused by President Donald Trump, who boasts about the country's response, demands the economy reopen, rarely urges Americans to wear a mask and dismisses the virus' surge across the Sun Belt and the rise in cases in 37 states.

"It's going to take a while to get a vaccine," McConnell said back home this week, less than a week after Trump promised a vaccine "very, very soon" and in "record time."

McConnell, on the other hand, urges caution.

"Remember once we get one or more vaccines we're going to need a massive number of doses, not just for our country, but for the whole world," he said, standing outside a hospital this week, holding his disposal facemask in his left hand.

A massive number of doses."

On Tuesday, McConnell added in Henderson, Kentucky: "The earliest I've heard anybody suggest one could be available would be later this year, and that would be extremely optimistic."

And as Trump dismisses the need for more testing, and falsely blames increased testing for a sharp rise in Covid-19 cases, McConnell has repeatedly called for more, saying that expanding testing capacity -- along with a treatment and vaccine -- are central to getting the country back to normal.

"On the Hill front, a heavy, heavy emphasis on testing, treatment and vaccine.

Moreover, McConnell has long preached party unity and message discipline during election season, but staying on the same page rhetorically with Trump is a virtually impossible task.

As he meets with hospital workers and talks to local reporters fewer than four months before he faces voters and seeks a seventh Senate term, McConnell doesn't criticize Trump about the pandemic response, and he makes clear that the Senate GOP and Trump administration want to advance a new recovery package later this month, even as Democrats attack him for moving too slowly.

Back in Kentucky, McConnell's speeches have been mostly devoid of politics and steer clear of the rhetoric from the partisan battles he leads in the Senate.

Democrats have called on him to move more quickly, engage in bipartisan talks and take up a $3 trillion package that passed the House two months ago, a proposal McConnell has roundly rejected as he called on Washington to first take stock of the roughly $3 trillion already approved before moving on a new plan.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told Senate Democrats on a private call Tuesday there has been no outreach from McConnell on a new plan, warning his caucus that the GOP leader would try to advance a partisan bill later this month.

"Republicans are stuck shilling for special interests," Schumer told Senate Democrats, according to a person on the call.

Since he helped usher through the $2.2 trillion economic rescue package in March, the largest in history, McConnell has been barnstorming the state to thank first responders and tout the elements of the measure, citing a $12 billion impact the law had on his state, and meeting with workers at food banks and hospitals.

The best you can do is try to mitigate it from here."

McConnell is facing reelection back home against Democrat Amy McGrath, who is criticizing the GOP leader's handling of the crisis, telling an interviewer this week with WYMT in Eastern Kentucky that McConnell wants "massive bailouts for corporate America" and aid for his "corporate donors."

But the rescue package that McConnell is campaigning on passed the Senate with no dissenting votes -- a rarity on Capitol Hill -- and has been the subject of an ad campaign the Senate GOP leader has run across the state.