McConnell would ‘absolutely’ support Trump in 2024 despite critiques over Capitol riot
Just last week, McConnell claimed Trump was 'practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day.'
When asked about the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said last week that former President Donald Trump was “practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day.”
He called Trump’s actions “a disgraceful, disgraceful dereliction of duty.”
But this week, McConnell said he would support Trump if he was the Republican Party nominee for president in 2024.
“The nominee of the party?” he confirmed with Fox News’ Bret Baier when pressed. “Absolutely.”
The contradiction is dizzying. On Twitter, political pundits like CNN’s Abby Phillip said McConnell’s comment “tells you everything you need to know.”
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After voting against Trump’s second impeachment, which could have prevented him from running for president again, McConnell gave a speech from the Senate floor in which he noted “fellow Americans beat and bloodied our own police. They stormed the Senate floor. They tried to hunt down the Speaker of the House. They built a gallows and chanted about murdering the vice president.”
“They did this because they had been fed wild falsehoods by the most powerful man on Earth,” said McConnell, “because he was angry he’d lost an election.”
Despite the bluster of the speech just a week ago, McConnell has now said he would support that man again.
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However, he also said: “There’s a lot to happen between now and ’24. I’ve got at least four members that I think are planning on running for president … Should be a wide-open race.”
There is expected to be a large contingent of Republicans seeking the presidency in 2024.
When reminded about his stern rebuke of Trump the previous week, McConnell said, “What happened in the past is not something relevant now. We’re moving forward. We’ve got a new administration. It’s a very left-wing administration.”
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He has also previously hinted that complicated legal battles could prevent Trump from becoming the nominee again, as several criminal and civil investigations are reportedly underway.
For his part, Trump attacked McConnell after his speech.
“Mitch is a dour, sullen and unsmiling political hack,” he said, “and if Republican Senators are going to stay with him, they will not win again.”
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