Republican Party senators facing re-election in 2022 remain silent about McConnell amid divisive struggle with Trump

With Trump warning that he will push primary candidates to fit his mold in the 2022 Senate runoff, many Republican senators facing voters next year are not eager to choose sides after the former president’s violent attack on the Republican leader after his impeachment trial.

Their lack of response does not mean that McConnell is in danger of losing his place at the top of the Senate Republican Party Conference, a position he has enjoyed longer than any other Republican senator in history. But it is a clear sign that Republicans are eager to avoid being caught in the middle of a divisive fight over Trump’s role in the party – after McConnell accused Trump of a “shameful abandonment of duty” and of being responsible for the deadly turmoil of Jan. 6, despite the Republican Party leader’s vote to absolve Trump of the allegation that trying a former president is unconstitutional.

While many Republican senators share McConnell’s view, others do not and are frustrated with the Republican leader for condemning the former president in harsh terms, arguing that his comments have put them in a complicated position.

“It was McConnell’s most unusual move,” said a Republican Party source close to the Senate Republican leader.

Among the many Republican senators who did not respond when asked if they still support McConnell were his Kentucky colleague, Senator Rand Paul, and Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson, who has sharply criticized the Republican Party leader in recent radio interviews after comments by McConnell on the Senate Plenary.

Both Sens. Todd Young of Indiana and Roy Blunt of Missouri, who are close to the leader of the Republican Party, did not answer the questions – and may be careful to invite a possible main opponent if they irritate the former president.

The other Republican senators who did not respond: Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma; Mike Lee, from Utah; John Kennedy of Louisiana; John Boozman, from Arkansas; Mike Crapo of Idaho; Chuck Grassley from Iowa; Lisa Murkowski of Alaska; John Hoeven of North Dakota; and Marco Rubio of Florida.

Glenn Clary, the state party chairman, told CNN that “some people are angry and upset and others say that she voted for her conscience”.

But he made it clear that Trump still has great support among the party’s faithful.

“President Trump is very dear here,” Clary said.

For McConnell, no Senate GOP challenger has come up to knock him off his perch on the body, so there is no immediate threat to his leadership position. But his attack on Trump – and Trump’s scathing response – may reverberate in the Senate primaries, where candidates are largely lining up with the former president in an attempt to court his base, even though McConnell has vowed to employ his operation. policy to push candidates who viewed as more eligible.

“I am running for the U.S. Senate to defend him, just like when I sided with President Trump and supported his American First agenda,” said Jane Timken, former Ohio Republican Party president, who announced on Thursday who would get the open seat in the state Senate in 2022.

While the Republican senators’ lack of response to McConnell underscores the difficult situation Republicans are in, some have made it clear that they are behind the Republican leader in the Senate.

“Leader McConnell has my full support and confidence. No one understands the Senate better than he does,” said Sen. John Thune, the second Senate Republican who faces voters in South Dakota next year, in a statement to CNN.

The cabinet of government senator Tim Scott referred to CNN for a recent interview with Fox radio, where the South Carolina noted his support for the leader.

“Yes,” said Scott, when asked if he supports McConnell as a leader. “There is a very simple answer: Yes. The longest answer is: Definitely yes. Because at the end of the day we will have to have someone in the party who knows how to fight fire with fire when it comes to Sen. (Chuck) Schumer, if we want to win back the majority, we will do. “

Senator Jerry Moran, a Kansas Republican who will face voters next year, also confirmed through a spokesman that he “supports Senator McConnell as a leader”.