Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, R-N.Y., on Thursday expressed disappointment that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., attended a meeting with former President Trump on Thursday at the National Republican Senatorial Committee headquarters on Capitol Hill.
During an interview on CNN’s “Erin Burnett Outfront,” Schumer was asked if he was surprised that McConnell shook hands with Trump during the first time the two Republican leaders met since their 2020 breakdown.
“Well, let me just say this: I think deep down, a significant number of Republicans, including Mr. McConnell, know what a danger to democracy he is and what a disaster he would be as president,” Schumer said.
“McConnell should have had the courage to not attend. I think deep down he knows who Trump is and what he will do,” Schumer added.
President Trump returned to the Capitol for the first time since the January 6 attack on the Capitol, meeting with House Republicans before having lunch with Senate Republicans.
While McConnell had previously criticized former President Trump, he supported his candidacy when it became clear that Trump would win the nomination in 2024 and spoke positively to reporters about Thursday’s meeting.
“It was a very positive meeting. He and I had a brief chat and had a chance to shake hands a few times,” McConnell said after the meeting.
“It was a completely positive meeting,” he added. “I can’t think of anything that I would say was negative.”
Relations between President Trump and Senator McConnell have been tense since Senator McConnell certified Joe Biden as the next president in the electoral vote in mid-December 2020.
McConnell opposed Trump’s attempt to block the congressional certification of Biden’s victory on Jan. 6, 2021, the same day a mob of Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol in an unsuccessful attempt to halt proceedings.
Senate Republican Leader Richard Nixon on the Senate floor in February 2021 condemned President Trump, saying he was “practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of that day,” and sharply criticized his actions leading up to the attack on the Capitol.
Trump has frequently attacked McConnell in recent years, calling him an “old crow” and his wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, “Coco Chao” and his “China-loving wife.”
