Mitch McConnell (left), Donald Trump.Photo: Oliver Contreras/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
While he onceexpressed supportforDonald Trump, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell now says the former president’s hold on the party has “diminished.”
“Here’s what I think has changed: I think the former president’s political clout has diminished,” McConnell toldNBC Newsin an interview this week.
The remarks are an escalation of criticism from McConnell, who previously denounced the “quality” of the Congressional candidates the former president endorsed ahead of the November midterm elections
Whilemany Republicans had projected landslide racesacross the country, Trump-aligned candidates appeared to suffer in many parts of the country, including in Georgia, where the former president’s favored candidate Herschel Walker saw his campaigndescend into controversyin its final weeks.
Trump has offered his own criticisms of McConnell, previously calling for a new Republican to lead in the Senatemore than a year ago, anddubbingMcConnell an “old crow.”
But he’s also gotten personal, attacking the senator’s wife (who served as Transportation Secretary under Trump) Elaine Chao, and writing that McConnell had a “death wish.”
Speaking to NBC News, McConnell said the Republican party “can do a better job with less potential interference” from the former president, adding Trump “may have other things to do.”
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Trump, who recently announced he was running for the presidency again in 2024, is currently mired in numerous investigations, including one ofhandling of classified documentsafter leaving office.
Just last week, theU.S. House committee investigating the riots of Jan. 6, 2021, officially recommended that the Department of Justice lay four criminal charges against Trump, including conspiracy to defraud the government and inciting an insurrection.
McConnell has previously lambasted the 45th president for his role in the riots.
“There’s no question — none — that President Trump is practically and morallyresponsible for provoking the events of the day,” the Kentucky senator said in a speech on the Senate floor weeks after the riots. “The people that stormed this building believed they were acting on the wishes and instructions of their president.”
source: people.com
