Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is focusing on winning the majority in 2022, saying he would support Republican primary candidates on the basis of their eligibility, even if it means running against Trump-backed opponents. maintenance revealed.
‘My goal is to have in every way candidates representing the Republican Party who can win in November. Some of them may be people the former president likes. Some of it may not be. The only thing I care about is eligibility, ‘the top Republican official told Politico in a telephone interview over the weekend.
However, the Kentucky senator warned that this does not mean that he intended to oppose any Trump-endorsed candidates, of course.
“I do not predict that the president will support people who cannot win. But I do think that eligibility – not who supports who – is the critical point, “he argued.
The Senate is split 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats, although Vice President Kamala Harris has a tie-breaking vote, giving the left a one-vote lead.
Despite being in the minority now, McConnell expressed confidence about the upcoming race.
‘The difference between now and 2009 is the difference between 40 and 50. I was there in 2009. I know what it looks like after you split. We did not get hampered. We lost the White House. ”
Asked if he would be in opposition if former President Trump sought the White House again in 2024, McConnell declined to answer and simply said, “I am focused on ’22.”
The Republican of Kentucky voted to release the former president in the Senate indictment.
He nevertheless argued that Trump bears the moral responsibility for the siege of the Capitol last month that accused him in the House.
“President Trump is constitutionally not eligible for conviction” due to the fact that he has already left office, but that “there is no doubt – no one – that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for the events of that day to provoke, “he said in the Senate. floor.