McConnell-Trump relationship icy as ever

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky may have supported former President Trump in his bid for the White House, but relations between the two remain icy.

McConnell said several leading Senate Republicans, including Sen. John Thune (S.D.) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), have personally contacted Trump, who is considered the likely Republican nominee. Despite efforts to repair the matter, he still has not spoken to Trump. fence.

Most of the Senate Republican conference is dominated by McConnell and his allies Sens. Todd Young (R-Ind.), Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) and Lisa Murkowski (R-La.), the obvious exceptions. All but one supporter of Trump. -Alaska), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), and Susan Collins (R-Maine).

Four of these senators, Cassidy, Murkowski, Romney, and Collins, voted to convict Trump on the impeachment charge of incitement of insurrection on January 6, 2021.

And McConnell recently said on the Senate floor on February 13, 2021, that he supported Trump’s condemnation, declaring that Trump was “substantively and morally responsible” for the storming of the U.S. Capitol.

Mr. McConnell has said his goal is to preserve a Senate Republican majority for his successor, but he has made no effort to distance himself from Mr. Trump and protect him from Democratic attacks.

While other Republicans, such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, were able to forget Mr. Trump’s personal attacks, Mr. McConnell said he supported Mr. Trump purely out of a sense of duty to the party and that Mr. Trump’s views were He made it clear that it was not because he had changed. Trump’s personality or suitability for office.

Even though McConnell expressed support for Trump this week in an interview with Louisville, Kentucky, radio host Terry Meiners after solidifying his bid for the Republican nomination last month. He admitted that there has been no thaw in the relationship.

Asked if he had had “any contact” with Trump, McConnell said, “Yeah, I’m busy with the Senate.”

When Meiners argued that there should eventually be a ‘come to yes’ moment between Trump and McConnell, the veteran Kentucky senator responded, “I’m spending my time in the Senate.” ”, interrupting Mr. Miners.

Undeterred, the radio host pressed further by asking whether McConnell had even tried to exchange messages with Trump.

“I wanted to talk about something new. [men’s] Basketball coach,” McConnell replied, trying to change the subject to Pat Kelce of the University of Louisville.

Relations between McConnell and Trump have cooled since the two stopped speaking in December 2020.

President Trump has repeatedly attacked McConnell and his wife, Elaine Chao, even though McConnell served as transportation secretary, and frequently urged Senate Republicans to remove McConnell from the top leadership position. did.

Trump, who has particularly irritated McConnell, has mocked Chao, who is Asian American, with racist nicknames such as “China Loving Wife” and “Coco Chow.”

Senate Republican leaders have steadfastly refused to say Trump’s name in public and have occasionally reprimanded him, albeit indirectly.

In November 2022, McConnell criticized Trump’s decision to invite Nick Fuentes, an outspoken white supremacist and anti-Semitic organizer, to his dinner table at Mar-a-Lago.

“There is no place for anti-Semitism or white supremacy in the Republican Party, and anyone who meets those who advocate such viewpoints… [is] “The chances of him being elected president of the United States are very slim,” he told reporters at the time.

Mr. McConnell most recently rejected Mr. Trump’s claim at a campaign rally that immigrants are “tainting the blood of our country.”

“What struck me was that he didn’t care when he appointed Elaine Chao as transportation secretary,” he said with a wry smile in December.

When he endorsed Trump last month, he made it clear that the decision was strictly a business one.

After Trump defeated rival Nikki Haley on Super Tuesday, McConnell said, “It’s clear that former President Trump has the support he needs among Republican voters to be the nominee for president of the United States.” Ta.

“It’s not surprising that he would have my support as a candidate,” he said.

“Mr. McConnell has been a longtime observer,” said Al Cross, director emeritus of the University of Kentucky’s Institute for Rural Journalism and a longtime observer of Mr. McConnell. He said his decision to support Trump was “just business.”

“They do business through intermediaries and don’t have anything else to do with each other until it’s absolutely necessary,” he said, noting there was a history of hostility between the two. .

He said their relationship is “100 percent business and 0 percent personal.”

“It’s fair to say, or even speculate, that if Mr. Trump hadn’t been so mean to Mr. McConnell and his wife, there might have been some warmth in support,” he said. Ta.

Cross said after McConnell said he believed Trump was responsible for the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol that injured dozens of police officers and destroyed the U.S. Senate. I put it there,” he said.

“He’s not going to back down from that,” he said.

Indeed, when asked about the scathing remarks he made about Trump on the floor on the third anniversary of the election on January 6, McConnell told reporters: I stand by what I said. ”

He made the comments in response to President Trump’s remarks in which he referred to rioters arrested and convicted in the Capitol attack as “hostages.”

Mr. McConnell has attacked Mr. Trump in a markedly different tone than Mr. Thune and Mr. Cornyn, who have been eager to forge personal ties with Mr. Trump despite past disagreements.

Thune called Trump before endorsing him in late February, highlighting his past work as a Republican whip in enacting Trump’s policies during his two years in the Oval Office. There is.

Thune, who is running to replace McConnell as leader, said he was “absolutely” ready to work closely with Trump.

“We have a job to do. We have to do it,” he told The Hill last month.

Cornyn personally reached out to Trump when he announced his candidacy to become the next Senate Republican leader.

She reminded Trump that they worked closely together in 2017 and 2018 to pass his landmark tax bill and confirm two conservative justices to the Supreme Court.

Reflecting on his conversation with Trump, Cornyn said, “I told him again how we had worked together constructively when I was in the majority and when he was president.”

But Mr. Cross, who has followed Mr. McConnell closely throughout his career, noted that Mr. Thune and Mr. Cornyn are looking toward a possible future working with the new Trump administration as Senate majority leader, while Mr. McConnell said this week , said he intended to move in a “different direction” after becoming president. He resigned as leader at the end of the year.

“They’re looking ahead, and at least with Donald Trump, he’s not,” he said.