WASHINGTON (AP) – Less than a month after criticizing Donald Trump in a violent speech, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell said on Thursday that he would “absolutely” support the former president again if he secured the Republican nomination in 2024.
The Kentucky Republican told Fox News that there is still “a lot to happen between now” and the next presidential election.
“I have at least four members that I think are planning to run for president, as well as governors and others,” said McConnell. “There is no holder. It must be an open race. “
But when asked directly whether he would support Trump again if he won the nomination, McConnell replied: “The party nominee? Absolutely.”
McConnell’s comments underscore a strange balancing act that he has sought to maintain since Trump lost the election, reflecting the reality that McConnell’s own return to power in the Senate depends on the enthusiasm of a party base that still fervently supports Trump.
McConnell’s comments precede an annual meeting of conservative activists that this year should show Trump’s control over the Republican Party base.
Trump, along with most other major presidential candidates for 2024, is set to address the Conservative Political Action Conference, which will be held in Orlando this year because of coronavirus restrictions. McConnell, a regular at the annual conference, will not be on the program after his conviction of Trump.
Shortly after voting to absolve Trump in his second impeachment trial, McConnell made a sizzling denunciation of Trump from the Senate floor, calling him “morally responsible” for the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. In turn, a furious Trump called McConnell a “sullen and serious political hack”.
The 36-year-old Senate veteran had a convenient relationship with Trump while he was in office. He got in the habit of saying little about many of Trump’s outrageous comments.
But together, they secured important Senate victories, such as the 2017 tax cuts and the confirmations of three Supreme Court justices and more than 200 other federal judges.
Their relationship went sour after Trump denied his defeat on November 3 and relentless efforts to reverse voters’ verdict with their baseless allegations that Democrats fraudulently stole the election.
The situation got even worse last month after Republicans lost control of the Senate with two defeats in the second round of Georgia that they attributed to Trump, followed by the attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters. On the day of the riot, McConnell protested “bandits, mobs or threats” and described the attack as “this failed insurrection”.
Still, McConnell likes to be proud of playing the “long game”, which was the title of his 2016 memoirs. And his comments on Thursday may still prove prescient.
Recently, Republican Senator Mitt Romney of Utah, a longtime opponent of Trump, predicted that the former president would win the nomination if he ran again.
“I don’t know if he will run in 2024 or not, but if he does, I’m pretty sure he’ll win the nomination,” said Romney during an online forum hosted by The New York Times.