WASHINGTON (AP) – Less than a month after he satirized Donald Trump in a blistering ground speech, Senate Leader Mitch McConnell said on Thursday that he would “absolutely” support the former president again if he landed the Republican nomination in 2024.
The Kentucky Republican told Fox News that there is “much to be done between now” and the next presidential election.
“I have at least four members who I think are planning to run for president, plus governors and others,” McConnell said. ‘There is no sitting party. Should be a wide open race. “
But when asked directly if he would support Trump again if he won the nomination, McConnell replied, “The party’s candidate? Absolutely.”
McConnell’s comments underscore a tricky balancing act he has been trying to sustain since Trump lost the election, and reflect the reality that McConnell’s own path back to power in the Senate depends on the enthusiasm of a party base that continues to fiercely support Trump.
McConnell’s comments precede an annual rally of conservative activists expected to demonstrate Trump’s hold on the GOP base this year.
Trump, along with most of the other leading presidential prospects in 2024, will address the Conservative Political Action Conference, to be held in Orlando this year due to coronavirus restrictions. McConnell, a regular at the annual conference, will not be on the program following his conviction of Trump.
Shortly after voting to acquit Trump during his second impeachment trial, McConnell delivered a burning charge against Trump from the Senate, calling him “morally responsible” for the January 6 attack on the Capitol. An angry Trump, in turn, blamed McConnell as a “grim, gruff, and unsmiling political hack.”
The 36-year-old Senate veteran had a favorable relationship with Trump during his tenure. He made it a habit to say little about many of Trump’s scandalous comments.
But together, they achieved significant Senate victories, such as the 2017 tax cuts and the confirmations of three Supreme Court justices and more than 200 other federal justices.
Their relationship soured after Trump’s denial of his November 3 defeat and relentless attempts to reverse voters’ judgment with his baseless claims that Democrats had fraudulently stolen the election.
It deteriorated further last month, after Republicans lost control of the Senate with two consecutive defeats in Georgia blaming Trump, followed by the attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters. On the day of the uprising, McConnell protested against “thugs, crowds or threats” and described the attack as “this failed uprising.”
Still, McConnell is happy to be proud of playing the “Long Game,” the title of his 2016 memoir. And his comments on Thursday may 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 applied again.
“I don’t know whether he will run in 2024 or not, but if he does, I’m pretty sure he will win the nomination,” Romney said during an online forum hosted by The New York Times.