On Wednesday, March 6, Senate Republican Leader, Leader Mitch McConnell announced that he would support ex-president Donald Trump for his reelection in the next presidential election. Despite years of acrimony towards Trump, this statement came as a shock to many as he has outwardly blamed Trump “practically and morally” for the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.
“It is abundantly clear that former President Trump has earned the requisite support of Republican voters to be our nominee for President of the United States,” McConnell said in a statement. “It should come as no surprise that as a nominee, he will have my support,” McConnell states to the Washington Post.
While they might have had a slight relationship in the past, McConnell and Trump ultimately fell out after Trump refused to admit defeat by Joe Biden in the 2020 election, which proceeded into the deadly attack on Congress on 6 January 2021, an event that resulted in the passing of seven people.
This event prompted McConnell’s wife, Elaine Chao, to resign as Trump’s transportation secretary. Shortly after, McConnell voted to acquit Trump at his impeachment trials, claiming that as Trump had left office the sanction was not needed.
This ultimately resulted in McConnell naming Trump several insults, some including a “stone cold loser”, and an “old broken down crow”, among many other significant and aggressive curses at him.
While the pair have not spoken to each other in what seems to be about four years, McConnell still seems to support him. Trump has not attacked McConnell, in addition, Trump’s adviser Chris LaCivita, and McConnell’s adviser Josh Holmes have spoken for several months now about the possibility of an endorsement, as the New York Times first reported.
“I look forward to the opportunity of switching from playing defense against the terrible policies the Biden administration has pursued to a sustained offense geared towards making a real difference in improving the lives of the American people,” he stated.
