“Moscow Mitch” is Now the Song of the Summer, Thanks to Ben Folds

Well, ok maybe not the song of the summer, but it is a song—in the summer.

Win McNamee/Getty

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

This week: “Moscow Mitch” by Ben Folds (Ben Folds, 2019)

Why we’re into it: Do we really need to explain ourselves here?

During a concert in New York City Thursday night, Kesha collaborator Ben Folds debuted the unrivaled song of the summer: “Moscow Mitch”—a nickname given to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell due to his role in blocking election security legislation last week. 

Performing on the roof of Pier 17, the former Ben Folds Five frontrunner paused his concert to address the audience: “What I want to do is put a little cool stutter in it, like, you know, ‘My-my-my-my-my-my Sharona.’ So what we’ll do is, we’ll go: Mah-mah-mah-Moscow Mitch. That’s it, okay?” While the song is mostly instrumental—save for two verses of Folds and the crowd yelling, “Mah-mah-mah-Moscow Mitch!” followed by a few laughs from the audience—it’s an undeniable banger.

The nickname has become immensely popular, trending on Twitter and spurring official fundraising merchandise. The name originated with Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough after he lambasted the GOP leader for “aiding and abetting Vladimir Putin’s ongoing attempts to subvert American democracy.” We’ll forgive the provenance of “Moscow Mitch,” the mild Russophobia, and the utter lack of creativity on the grounds that anything that gets under Mitch McConnell’s skin can’t be all bad.

The legislation is supported on both sides of the aisle, and experts like it. As my colleague AJ Vicens recently wrote:

The proposals contain measures including mandatory voter-verified paper ballots and post-election audits; streamlined information sharing requirements among local, state and federal officials; more funding for voting system upgrades; and minimum security requirements for federal elections. Other legislation aims to thwart foreign influence operations in US elections and increase regulations on online election advertising.

McConnell argues that this bill is part of a broader push for “socialism” and is an attempt to help Democrats win at the polls, rather than trying to secure our elections from foreign interference.

So while we may never see Folds’ hit in the Top 40—or even a studio recording of it—that won’t stop us from blasting this defiant summer anthem all season long.

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate