No, President Obama and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell did not sip bourbon at their White House meeting Wednesday — and that's about the only specific to emerge from their private session.
"We had a good conversation about a variety of different issues where we might possibly find common ground," McConnell told CNN.
The White House had no comment on the meeting, though Obama said earlier in the day he wants to work with the new Republican Congress on issues such as the budget, free trade, tax reform and infrastructure.Journalists and political officials have joked about a "bourbon summit" because of McConnell's Kentucky lineage — "actually, I would enjoy having some Kentucky bourbon with Mitch McConnell," Obama himself said last month — but that's not what this meeting was about.
"No, this was not the bourbon summit," McConnell told CNN. "But I'm still hoping we'll have it."
Republicans won control of the Senate in the Nov. 4 elections. McConnell officially becomes majority leader when the new Senate convenes early next year. The GOP also expanded its existing majority in the U.S. House.
Earlier Wednesday, in an interview with Yahoo News' weekly SiriusXM radio show, McConnell gave a good reason for avoiding Kentucky's signature beverage during his meeting with Obama.
"Drinking bourbon in the middle of the afternoon would not be good for either of our careers," McConnell said.
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