After years of enabling him, obliquely criticizing him, barely having contact with him, voting the way he wanted, directly criticizing him, resisting him etc. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has bowed down to presumptive GOP President nominee Donald Trump. He seems to have followed the old invitation: “Join the party.”
Yes there are still many Never Trumpers and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley has dropped out of the race after showing a not-tiny segment of the Republican Party is against Trump.
But the deed is now done. It’s Donald Trump who, more than ever, is the Republican Party’s standard bearer, face, and, apparently soul.
Once again the seemingly impossible highly unlikely not-gonna-happen has…happened. But given his past political history was there really any doubt that McConnell, who announced he’s giving up his Minority Leader status in November, shamelessly fold.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) endorsed Donald Trump for president on Wednesday after years of acrimony between them, cementing Trump’s continued hold on the Republican Party.
“It is abundantly clear that former President Trump has earned the requisite support of Republican voters to be our nominee for President of the United States,” McConnell said in a statement to The Washington Post. “It should come as no surprise that as nominee, he will have my support. During his presidency, we worked together to accomplish great things for the American people including tax reform that supercharged our economy and a generational change of our federal judiciary — most importantly, the Supreme Court. I look forward to the opportunity of switching from playing defense against the terrible policies the Biden administration has pursued to a sustained offense geared towards making a real difference in improving the lives of the American people.”
McConnell — who has announced he will step down from his leadership role in November — is one of the most influential Washington Republicans to back Trump, and the endorsement was a remarkable, if expected, move from the Kentucky Republican. He has held out in recent weeks as other Republicans have lined up to back Trump, including many who wanted a different nominee, and his endorsement means that almost every powerful cog in the Republican apparatus is directly behind the former president.
McConnell declared his endorsement as former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley announced Wednesday morning that she is suspending her campaign, leaving Trump with no remaining major opponents.
And:
Trump needs to unite the Republican Party behind him, and Haley, while losing overwhelmingly to Trump, won 30 or 40 percent of the vote in many states. Many of her supporters are currently unwilling to back the former president, which could cause him problems in the general election, exit polls have shown.
McConnell has privately derided Trump, publicly attacked him for his role in fomenting the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and has not spoken with Trump for several years. People close to McConnell privately said after Trump’s presidency that the powerful Kentucky Republican did not plan to speak Trump’s name again.
“There is no question, none, that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the event of that day,” he said after Jan. 6. He added that Trump “didn’t get away with anything yet” in a speech on the floor of the Senate that explained his decision not to convict Trump on impeachment charges.
Trump has mocked McConnell’s wife as “Coco Chao” because of her Asian American heritage and frequently derided McConnell as the “Broken Down Crow,” or in more pejorative terms. He has told advisers that he wanted to replace McConnell as the leader of Republicans in the Senate if he were elected, but McConnell has already said he will step down. During remarks to donors at his Mar-a-Lago Club in 2021, he infamously called McConnell a “dumb son of a b—-.”
But in recent months, the two men have had a détente of sorts: Trump has not attacked McConnell, and Trump adviser Chris LaCivita and McConnell adviser Josh Holmes have spoken for several months about the possibility of an endorsement, as the New York Times first reported.
OF RELATED INTEREST:
—Is Mitch McConnell the arsonist who set the fire and ran away?
—THE DAMAGE MITCH MCCONNELL HAS DONE TO DEMOCRACY IS INDELIBLE
Mitch McConnell, once again, demonstrates a level of moral cowardice that is destructive and pathetic. He was responsible for letting Trump off the hook, and having him as the Republican nominee when he deep sixed impeachment trial. Now he endorses the vicious autocrat. Shame.
— Norman Ornstein (@NormOrnstein) March 6, 2024
—McConnell steps down (Cartoon)
–-Sen. Mitch McConnell’s legacy is the current Supreme Court and a judiciary reshaped by his ‘calculated audacity
Mitch McConnell: one of history’s most cynical cowards https://t.co/om2Bc1xNbl
— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) March 6, 2024
Mitch McConnell after Jan. 6: "The leader of the free world cannot spend weeks thundering that shadowy forces are stealing our country and then feign surprise when people believe him and do reckless things."
McConnell just endorsed Trump.
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) March 6, 2024
It can’t be overstated how McConnell’s decision to not try to convict Trump in his January 6th impeachment trial opened the door for his comeback https://t.co/0Ym4hOCSkN
— Jonathan Lemire (@JonLemire) March 6, 2024
I mean, it's not like Mitch McConnell is going to become a working lobbyist when he leaves. There's literally nothing in the realm of reason that drives an endorsement of Trump, aside from wanting his grave to reek of ammonia.
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) March 6, 2024
McConnell just endorsed for President, the very same man he said was “practically and morally responsible for provoking the events…” of January 6th.
This is the Republican Party.
Their craven cuckholding knows no bounds. They cannot be handed power.Video credit @Independent pic.twitter.com/sY48dUghkr
— Jo (@JoJoFromJerz) March 6, 2024
It was always going to end up here.
McConnell had a chance for actual bravery—to nudge his legacy a least a little towards the right side of history—and he folded like Ted Cruz’s favorite blow up doll. https://t.co/UkMopuZYve
— Angry Staffer ? (@Angry_Staffer) March 6, 2024
NEW: “Leader” Mitch McConnell just endorsed Donald Trump. Just as pathetic, just as spineless, just as cowardly, just as weak as Mitch McConnell always has been. Screw Mitch McConnell & every Republican who’s going to fall back in line with Trump. They are all political tools.
— Victor Shi (@Victorshi2020) March 6, 2024
Mitch McConnell in four acts. pic.twitter.com/xwOPplLNkB
— Anthony Michael Kreis (@AnthonyMKreis) March 6, 2024
Not exactly a rousing endorsement. McConnell has always lacked the courage to do the right thing when it comes to Trump: "'It should come as no surprise that, as nominee, he will have my support,' McConnell, R-Ky., said." https://t.co/eTwUsq51iX
— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) March 6, 2024
There is nothing remarkable about McConnell dropping to his knees. https://t.co/534M1z48l1
— Brian J. Karem (@BrianKarem) March 6, 2024
Mitch McConnell is the reason why the United States hasn't passed a renewed Voting Rights Act. He is the reason why the United States hasn't passed democracy reform. He is the reason why Donald Trump is still able to run for office (he had the opportunity to end this nightmare… pic.twitter.com/VtIZAD1W0a
— The Intellectualist (@highbrow_nobrow) March 6, 2024
Donald Trump slandered Mitch McConnell and his wife w/numerous lies & racist attacks. But McConnell just endorsed Trump to be president again.
Despite his pretenses, McConnell has always been a staunch Trump ally, as @JTaylorSkinner and I discussed: https://t.co/2oJ9OT1g12 pic.twitter.com/tvOJov3xko
— Matthew Sheffield (@mattsheffield) March 6, 2024
Just like I said, they all capitulate in the end. Today it’s Mitch McConnell endorsing Trump. Tomorrow it will be Nikki Haley. The Republican Party is a party of cowards who cannot be trusted to protect democracy. https://t.co/nMq8ZnhxPP
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) March 6, 2024
Photo 254660338 © Yuri Arcurs | Dreamstime.com
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.