Amid a very pronounced war of words between the most powerful GOP leader in Congress and the most popular and influential Republican politician under the party’s base, the chairman of the Senate re-election arm wants GOP unity as Republicans strive for the chamber ‘s majority to win back next year.
Florida Senator Rick Scott, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), remains silent amid tensions between former President Trump and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
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“President Scott’s goal is to win back the Senate, and the only way we can do that is for everyone to work together,” a source familiar with the senator’s thinking told Fox News. “And that includes both leaders McConnell and Trump. That’s where Scott’s focus is.”
McConnell voted on Saturday to acquit the former president – who was indicted last month – of inciting the January 6 uprising at the US Capitol by right-wing extremists and other Trump supporters, aimed at securing the certification. of President Joe Biden’s Electoral College President. .
But McConnell singled out Trump during a Senate floor speech minutes after the trial was over. And he did, did it again on Monday and wrote in an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal: ‘There is no doubt that former President Trump bears moral responsibility. His supporters stormed the Capitol because of the fearless lies he shouted in the world’s biggest megaphone. . His behavior during and after the chaos was also unscrupulous. ‘
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Trump fired back on Tuesday with a scathing statement, calling McConnell a “cunning, grumpy and impeccable political heel”, arguing that the IDP would “never again be respected or strong” with McConnell at the helm.
Trump promises to remain the dominant figure in the IDP from now on and promises to support primary challengers against Republicans who crossed him and who are eligible for re-election in 2022.
The split also comes as Trump tries to return to the White House in 2024 with a presidential election, and as the latest opinion polls indicate, the former president remains extremely popular with Republican voters.
Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., stressed on Fox News’ Hannity on Monday that his father “will continue to push the America First agenda … He will run for candidates who will do so, not the peer- guys do not. . “
And a longtime Trump political adviser, Corey Lewandowski, recently told Fox News that the former president would be “actively” involved in the primary challenges the Republicans opposed to him.
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But McConnell tried in two interviews after the accusation that he could cross with Trump when it comes to the Senate GOP by – elections.
“My goal is to have nominees in every possible way who represent the Republican Party who can win in November,” McConnell told Politico on Saturday. “Some of them may be people who like the former president. Some of them may not. The only thing I care about is eligibility.”
The key to victory in 2022 is to find candidates who can actually win, McConnell told the Wall Street Journal in a separate newspaper presented this week. “It may or may not involve trying to influence the outcome of the pre-election.”
McConnell’s remarks speculate that the Senate’s primary showdowns over the next year and a half could turn into a power struggle between the Trump and the GOP’s anti-Trump groups – and this will make the lives of Senate Republicans in 2022 uncomfortable. make.
Two longtime GOP senators who are up for re-election next year are already in Trump’s cross. They are Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who voted to condemn Trump, and the number two Republican in the chamber, Senator John Thune of South Dakota, who criticized Trump’s unsuccessful attempts to improve Biden’s victory.
Scott emphasized in an interview with Fox News last month that the NRSC “clearly supports our incumbents”.
And the source stressed that Scott is still committed to supporting the GOP’s positions that are eligible for re-election, adding that ‘nothing that has happened in the past week has changed his view.’
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South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, who will be re-elected in 2022, gave advice on avoiding international strife on Wednesday’s Fox News’ America’s Newsroom. “If we get into quarrels and fights with the personality, we will be in a challenging place in 2022 and 2024. That means America will accept socialism because we can not act right,” he said. But he added that Trump “is the most powerful political figure on either side”.
Veteran Republican strategist Brian Walsh told Fox News that “it’s too early to know” whether the clash between Trump and McConnell will have a lasting impact on GOP efforts to regain control of the Senate wins that the party only lost in the 2020 election cycle.
“There is no one who works harder and is more laser-focused on reclaiming a Republican majority than Mitch McConnell,” said Walsh, a former Senate Assistant Secretary who also served as the NRSC’s communications director.
“No one should forget that he would have helped win a Senate majority in 2014 without Donald Trump,” he said. “The ball is largely in the former president’s court, whether he wants to help Republicans win in 2022 or rather focus on the kind of personal grievances that Republicans cost the two seats in Georgia’s Senate and the majority in January. “
Senate Democrats, hoping to defend and even expand their razor-sharp majority – the Senate is split 50/50 between the two parties, but the Democrats control the chamber because of the decisive vote of Vice President Kamala Harris in her role as Senate President – appears to be enjoying the Trump-McConnell clash.
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“Rick Scott and other Republicans are desperate to hide their position because they know the party is bitterly divided between McConnell’s toxic Washington policy and Trump’s relentless conspiracy theories, but they can not have it either way,” the Democrat said. Senate Campaign Committee charged. spokesman Stewart Boss.