SHELBYVILLE, Ky. (AP) — For nearly two decades, Mitch McConnell’s only job uncertainty has been whether he will become Senate majority leader or minority leader after the next election. It was on. With only a few days left in his term as Republican leader and no longer in control of the party, the Kentucky native has become more free to talk about his priorities.
During an event in the Bluegrass State last week, McConnell revealed new details about his decision to step down in November from his role as Senate majority leader, the longest-serving leader in history, and discussed the future of his seat. sparked a wave of speculation about. Mr. McConnell, 82, has not yet said whether he will seek another term to serve out the remainder of his term, but in his radio interviews and speeches he has said that he hopes this term will serve him well. We talked more broadly about what we wanted to achieve. He has more than two and a half years left in his current term.
Mitch McConnell resigns as Republican leader
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) speaks during a presentation at the University of Louisville on Tuesday, April 2, 2024 in Louisville, Kentucky. With his term as Republican leader waning, the Kentuckian is speaking more freely. What are his priorities if he can no longer lead the party? (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)
Mr. McConnell has been holding meetings and events in Kentucky that have not been announced to the media, even after months when public visits to his hometown appeared to be tapering off due to health concerns. continued to focus on policies he hopes will help Congress move forward. .
“I felt it was time to move on to a new mission,” he said in a speech in Shelbyville. “And I have no intention of ever leaving the Senate, and I remain very interested in the issues before us.”
McConnell said top of his to-do list is countering what he sees as the party’s growing shift toward an isolationist foreign policy. He has the same mission as the Republican leader in the Senate, but he is politically challenged as conservatives increasingly oppose spending on overseas wars amid former President Donald Trump’s fiercely isolationist populism. It’s a difficult position.
In his speech, the senator said, “I have a strong passion to resist with all my strength the idea that it is somehow not in our interest for the United States to be the leader of the democratic world.” “If we are not in leadership positions, things will not go well.”
Throughout his career in the Senate, Mr. McConnell has been a staunch supporter of a strong U.S. foreign policy. Nowhere, he said, is the hands-off approach promoted by some within the party more dangerous than in Ukraine. McConnell said pulling back support for Ukraine in its war with Russia could further the expansionist ambitions of Russian President Vladimir Putin and ultimately spark a broader conflict. Ta.
“If Russia occupies Ukraine, then NATO countries will occupy it, and then we’ll be in the middle of it,” McConnell said in an interview on Louisville’s WHAS-AM radio last week. Ta.
Mr. McConnell dismissed questions about his health and political future. He said he would serve out his seventh Senate term, adding, “I don’t know how many times I can say this, but that’s exactly what I’m going to do.” Mr. McConnell gave no indication whether he would run for re-election in 2026, but he continued to raise campaign funds for himself.
Asked how he was doing in Shelbyville, McConnell replied curtly: “I’m doing great. How are you doing?”
He suffered a concussion in a fall last year, and there have been two public incidents where his face froze momentarily during a speech. Aides said Mr. McConnell’s decision to relinquish the leadership post had nothing to do with his health.
When the conversation turned to the University of Kentucky’s loss of influence with the departure of its leader, the ever-reticent McConnell responded: Mr. McConnell will continue to be influential in Republican politics, in part because of his reputation as a huge fundraiser for his party.
Mr. McConnell has made significant contributions to appropriations in the Bluegrass State throughout his career and is well-placed to continue in that role as ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
“I think in a state like ours, it’s important what we get from the federal government,” McConnell told reporters in Shelbyville.
Mr. McConnell also serves on the Senate Agriculture Committee and will once again have a major role in crafting the next federal farm bill, which is critical to Kentucky’s diversified agricultural sector.
The speech included scathing remarks about Democratic President Joe Biden, who accused him of fueling inflation and over-regulating his policies.
As usual, the senator did not mention Trump directly. The two have been estranged since December 2020, when McConnell refused to abide by Trump’s lie that Biden’s presidential election was a product of fraud. Mr. McConnell last month broke the ice long enough to endorse Mr. Trump, who is certain to be the Republican presidential nominee in November’s election.
Mr. McConnell spoke extensively in his speech about the dangers of isolationism, suggesting that U.S. interests are at stake like never before since the fall of the Berlin Wall.
“You can say, ‘Well, just keep your head down and everything will be fine,'” the senator said. “Or you can resist it. It may be unfashionable now, but I’m a Ronald Reagan Republican. Peace through strength.”
He hit back at resistance to sending additional aid to Ukraine. McConnell said this would help hire American workers to replenish the U.S. military stockpile, and that cutting off the aid would send a dangerous signal to other U.S. adversaries.
“This war has not claimed a single American life,” he said. “We are not directly involved in the war. We are trying to help these brave people stand up for independence.”
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In another public appearance last week, Mr. McConnell introduced Alabama Republican Sen. Katie Britt when she spoke at Mr. McConnell’s alma mater, the University of Louisville.
As McConnell spoke to the Kentucky audience, he began to reflect more deeply on his long career as a senator. And he makes fun of himself for being a big politician.
“I often tell people that my real introduction to politics was my internship with Henry Clay,” he said of the 19th-century Kentuckian.
