“My goal is to have candidates representing the Republican Party in every way who can win in November,” McConnell said by telephone. “Some of them are people who like the former president. Some of it may not be. The only thing I care about is eligibility. ‘
The Kentuckian made it clear that ‘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. ‘
The Senate’s GOP has largely followed McConnell’s leadership over the past five years as Trump’s hold on the party has become more intense. McConnell did not comment on the tweets, and neither did most of his Republicans.
His work became even more troublesome in a unique minority of 50 votes. However, the attempt to lead Republicans to a presidential loss is not new to McConnell: After former President Barack Obama’s victories, McConnell formed the Republicans into a sometimes brutal, often effective opposition force to Obama’s agenda.
Now the 78-year-old has a similar veto over some of Joe Biden’s legislative platform. His willingness to dive into tough primary battles and try to eradicate the type of candidates plaguing the IDP in 2010 and 2012 is a powerful weapon in his shadow fight against Trump. But there is no guarantee that he can win it.
“To the extent that there is a titular leader for the party,” it is McConnell, said John Thune (RS.D.). Trump has threatened Thune with a primary challenge, making South Dakotan one of several in McConnell’s conference that could face Trump-inspired challenges in deep red states.
But although McConnell excited Trump on Saturday over a ‘shameful dereliction of duty’ during the January 6 uprising, he returned quickly and avoided the former president’s controversies. During the interview, McConnell did not want to address the Democratic critique that his acquittal / condemnation was an attempt to make it happen in both ways when it comes to Trump.
And he did not elaborate on comments on Saturday that appear to be that Trump could prosecute.
“I already said what I should say about it,” was where McConnell left it.
McConnell also did not want to say that if he were to seek the White House in 2024, he would be in opposition: “I am focused on ’22.”
Comments like these are meant as guidelines for its members, who are already starting to tarnish Biden’s agenda as “far left”. This is a strategy that Republicans can ignore Trump for at least a few months.
“We will focus on what the Biden agenda looks like,” said Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas), a top deputy in McConnell. “It will create a degree of cohesion among the loyal opposition.”
But not everyone listens to the party leader. Just look at Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Who challenged the outcome of the November election despite McConnell’s warnings not to force the case. Or even Senator Lindsey Graham (RS.C.), who plans to meet with Trump soon to discuss the party’s future.
Then there are about half a dozen senators who seem to be softening presidential runs, much under the Trump mantle.
“I do not know what is happening to the party as a whole in terms of the people who are very committed to President Trump,” said Shelley Moore Capito (RW.Va.), who is close to McConnell. “But I hope they stick with us.”
Across the Capitol, Trump’s stubborn supporters think GOP senators are making things harder, especially the Republican leader. Twice now, McConnell has openly defeated Trump for spreading conspiracy theories and wiping out the mob that stormed the Capitol.
McConnell’s acquittal softens Trump supporters who are tired of his rhetorical boom over the former president.
‘Many people are frustrated with his comments. I’m not going to sugar coat it, ”said rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), The head of the hard House Freedom Caucus, said.
Some Republicans in the House have argued that McConnell is on an equal footing with their leader, Representative Kevin McCarthy, even though the minority party is essentially irrelevant in the House. McCarthy “leads much more of us” than McConnell, as Representative Jim Banks (Indian) put it.
Banks is chairing the Conservative Republican Study Committee, which has already teamed up with potential presidential hopefuls like Mike Pompeo. And Banks has argued that the GOP does not currently have a single leader, as there are multiple votes vying to claim the party’s mantle before 2024.
“Right now we have a lot of leaders,” Banks said. “The vacuum is filled with many voices.”
“Honestly, our party will be largely guided by how we respond to what the Democrats are going to do,” Sen said. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), A member of the GOP leadership, said. “One person does not necessarily lead it if you do not have the White House.”
Some on the right say that Trump’s influence in the IDP is not fading just because he does not have his office, thanks to his pull on the campaign and the ability to make news.
“The fact that he is no longer in the White House does not mean that he is not the leader of the movement he started four or five years ago,” Biggs said.
McConnell and Biggs could very likely find themselves in Senate races like the one in Arizona next year, where a GOP chaired by Ward is struggling to win tough races in an early red state. In addition, McConnell said the Senate GOP will stand strong behind all of its incumbents, including Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, the only Republican vote to condemn Trump who will be re-elected in 2022.
Asked who now runs the party, Murkowski replied: “As much as one can be, Senator McConnell.” McConnell has just won re-election and given him six years to plan a course for the Senate IDP.
Unlike the Senate, many members of the House are elected in districts that are not competitive. It has yielded a decidedly pro-Trump GOP conference over the years, with more than 120 House Republicans voting to challenge the election results, even after last month’s deadly riots.
By contrast, only eight Senate Republicans voted to challenge the election results.
Yet 10 Republicans from the House – including the chair of the GOP conference, Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) – voted to accuse Trump. Pro-Trump representative Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) Even campaigned against Cheney in Wyoming last month, where he could not resist teasing McConnell as a member of the establishment trying to ‘our fellow Americans have been screwing for generations. ”
McConnell defended Cheney and even indicated on Saturday that he could even get involved in her re-election campaign.
“The future of the party will be determined in places like Wyoming in ’22,” McConnell said.
Trump leaves the GOP at a crossroads: it’s hard to imagine that the party’s next two years will be good, given its divisions over Trump’s accusation, his agenda and how to deal with his extra-judicial challenges for the election. . Shortly after Trump’s acquittal, state parties began hammering Senate Republicans who voted to convict.
But becoming a majority leader is a numbers game, and McConnell got off to a good start with 50 seats. From that perspective, 2022 does not look so bad for him. Even with everything Trump has gone through the party, as far as power in Congress is concerned, McConnell has seen worse.
“The difference between now and 2009 is the difference between 40 and 50,” he said. ‘I was there in 2009. I know what it looks like after you clawed. We did not get hampered. We lost the White House. ”