“We have problems as a party, with the demographic tendencies that are against us, and we do not have much margin of error,” said Senator Mike Braun (India), noting that the Trump-McConnell feud is still going on. full torch ‘. “As for politics in the infighting, I do not know how it can help – if you scrap on the sidelines, if you try to win states and especially national elections.”
The feuds are mostly one-sided as of late; McConnell hardly pronounces Trump’s name these days and has no communication with the former president. Still, several high-ranking senators said Monday night that Trump and McConnell need to reach an understanding, or that they might need to talk to each other again, which seems unthinkable at the moment.
“Hopefully there will be some sort of ceasefire,” said Senate minority whip John Thune. “It is in everyone’s interest – including the former president, if he wants to remain politically viable – to help us win the majority in 2022. And that means working with the Republicans of the Senate, and not against them. ‘
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), the No. 5 leader, said she hopes Trump and McConnell can ‘reconcile’ at some point. ‘
“We really need to come together, both leader McConnell and President Trump,” Ernst said. “We just need to have a good conversation within the Republican Party.”
The Republican from Kentucky did not want to respond to Trump’s criticism on Monday night, but will almost certainly be asked about it again at his weekly news conference on Tuesday. And Trump made the prospect later Monday with a statement from the Supreme Court in which he said: “With leaders like Mitch McConnell, they are helpless to fight. He did not fight for the presidency, nor will he fight for the court. ”
Trump and McConnell have fought naturally, of course, mostly in 2017 during the early days of the former’s presidency. Trump relies on McConnell to kill the legislative filibuster (McConnell refuses) and criticizes the GOP leader for the party’s failure to recall Obamacare. The two later restored their relationship by focusing on the federal bank and collaborating on senate races, though their alliance evaporated after McConnell acknowledged Biden’s presidential victory in December.
The rift has since accelerated, fueled primarily by Trump’s lies about the election, his actions during the Jan. 6 riot and his subsequent delay in calling out his supporters after storming the Capitol. McConnell harshly condemned Trump this year for “lying” to his voters in his attempts to overthrow the election and indicated that he had convicted Trump in his indictment.
Eventually, McConnell acquitted Trump while disregarding him for a breach of duty because he did not defend the Capitol. The GOP leader of the Senate has further promised to nominate mainstream candidates who can win general elections in key matches, regardless of the opinion of the former president. In particular, Trump has so far endorsed a member of the current GOP senators, several of whom disagree with his efforts to contest the election.
However, he did not endorse Thune and is openly against nerve Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) re-election. Future GOP senate elections in states such as Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Missouri and Ohio offer more opportunities for conflict within the party.
‘The way it’s going to play out is that there’s going to be primaries. And President Trump is likely to choose his person. It could very well be the same person we want to nominate. In the end, it is about who is eligible for the general election, “said Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas), a close ally of McConnell.
Trump’s latest series of problems, including the blame on McConnell for losing the Georgia Senate expiration in January and mishandling the latest series of pandemic stimulus controls, disguise what is otherwise currently a unified GOP. No Republicans in Congress supported Biden’s coronavirus bill earlier this year, and it appears that none of them will support the still-emerging infrastructure plan.
You could hardly see it from the impression that Trump’s beating on McConnell created. The ongoing tensions run the risk of settling their party into divisions and predict the appearance of a hopeless rift between McConnell’s more established vision and Trump’s chaotic, controversy-driven conservatism.
“This is how I look at it: they are both big boys,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (RW.Va.), who admitted that the episode was “not helpful” to Republicans. ‘They are both aiming for the same goal, which is a good result in 2022. But they will be able to find out. ‘
Republicans are relying on the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Rick Scott, to help hear the dispute. Scott spent the weekend with the GOP donor refuge with Trump and handed over the NRSC champion for freedom award to him. The Floridian also said the McConnell-Trump rift had not yet hurt the NRSC’s fundraising.
Some Republicans bet that opposition to Biden’s agenda will be enough to unite voters. Concerns about the icy relationship between the former president and the GOP leader have been overwhelming, they said.
Scott laughed for the first time at Trump’s latest gross attack: ‘I had a lot of experience with Senator McConnell. I think he’s one of the smartest SOBs I know. ‘
“At least we have a Mitch McConnell and we have a Donald Trump,” Senator Kevin Cramer (RN.D.) said. “The party cannot be successful without Donald Trump, and Donald Trump cannot be successful without the Republican Party.”
But Republicans cannot quite shine through the current rift. Just this year, Trump asked donors to donate to his own political group instead of IDP campaign committees. And McConnell is intensely interested in the crucial Senate contests, moving to anoint his preferred candidates and make strategic decisions about where he wants to join.
It is therefore easy to see how continued disagreement will hamper the GOP’s efforts to take back the majority of the Senate next year. That’s why Republicans are ready for the Trump and Mitch Show to complete its latest plot line.
“We now have other challenges. “Anything we can do to work together, the better we will be,” said Sen. Mike Rounds (RS.D.), who described himself as “very disappointed” to hear Trump’s comments on McConnell. “We have bigger fish to fry.”