More than three years after their last conversation, Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell declared on Wednesday that he would back Donald Trump for president. The Kentucky Republican is the one who specifically accused Trump of being responsible for the attack on the US Capitol building on January 6, 2021.
McConnell released a statement saying, “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. It should not be shocking that I will be supporting him as nominee.”
McConnell’s Endorsement Followed Months of Talks
McConnell made his declaration shortly after former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, Trump’s last serious opponent in the primary, declared she would withdraw the morning following Super Tuesday when Trump won all of the nation’s elections.
According to a person with knowledge of the situation, McConnell’s support resulted from months of intensive talks about communication between the Trump campaign’s Chris LaCivita and longtime McConnell confidant Josh Holmes. Perhaps most importantly, though, was getting the two camps to agree on the US Senate races this year.
Another person with knowledge of the situation claims that McConnell did not communicate with Trump prior to releasing his support. The two have not spoken since December 2020. Instead, LaCivita and Holmes allegedly chatted.
The public backing from McConnell, who said last week that he would resign as the head of the Republican Party at the end of the year, coincided with the endorsement of Trump by his fellow prominent Republican senators. Earlier this month, his opponent, John Thune, the second-ranking Republican in the chamber, gave Trump his endorsement. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, a potential McConnell replacement, supported Trump following his victory in the New Hampshire primary.
Thune, who has already expressed his worries loudly on Trump’s potential popularity with suburban voters, told CNN that he thinks the Republican ticket will send a unifying message.
We need to have a united ticket heading into the fall, in my opinion. and we’ll all go out and work hard to win over those suburban votes who are independents,” he said to CNN. “Now, it’s a one-on-one, straight up.”
Other congressional Republicans are now supporting Trump and putting aside their earlier reservations about his being the party’s nominee.
