FANCY FARM, Ky. (AP) — Primed for Russia-related attacks from his detractors at Kentucky’s premier political event, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Saturday it’s fitting for Democrats to wear “Moscow Mitch” shirts depicting the communist-era hammer and sickle.

After all, McConnell reasoned, Democrats are from the party pushing for the Green New Deal and Medicare for all.

Democrats broke into “Moscow Mitch” chants as they heckled the sixth-term Republican senator during the stump-style speaking at the Fancy Farm picnic.

It’s a yearly grilling endured by leaders from both parties in the summer heat in this tiny Kentucky town. But this year, the partisan cauldron came as McConnell has come under attack for blocking election security legislation aimed at protecting the nation’s political system against foreign attacks.

Before McConnell and the other speakers took the other stage, a Democratic strategist fired up his party’s stalwarts by waving a “Moscow Mitch” sign to the sweaty crowd split along Republican and Democratic lines.

McConnell was ready for the attacks, firing back at his detractors during a Republican breakfast where he received a long ovation.

“It’s appropriate to see a bunch of Democrats running around with communist flags on their shirts,” the senator told reporters at the breakfast. “That ought to tell you something about where they want to take the country with the Green New Deal and Medicare for all. Their whole agenda would fundamentally change the country with something it’s never been.”

The Kentucky Democratic Party is hawking T-shirts, depicting a picture of McConnell wearing a Cossack hat with the hammer and sickle symbol and declaring: “Just say Nyet to Moscow Mitch.” Buttons, stickers, and other merchandise are also available. The attacks have become a big windfall for the party, with sales reaching $350,000 since Wednesday.