Mitch McConnell Blames Trump For Limiting GOP Chances To Retake Senate

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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell blamed Trump for the GOP’s poor showing in this year’s Senate races. He repeated earlier comments Tuesday about “candidate quality” issues among Senate candidates. But he said Trump’s “decisive” endorsement means the national GOP will have to work with his picks. Loading Something is loading.

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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell blamed former President Donald Trump on Tuesday for the Republican Party’s poor showing in this year’s Senate elections, saying Trump’s endorsements had limited influence on the party’s ability to elect better candidates. who is nominated.

“Our ability to control a primary outcome is quite limited to [2022] because the support of the former president proved to be very decisive in these primaries,” he told reporters at his weekly press conference at the Capitol. “So my point of view is: do the best you can with the cards that are given to you. “

“Hopefully in the next cycle, we will have quality candidates everywhere and the results will be better,” he added.

McConnell’s comments suggest he and other top Republicans are essentially working with Trump’s chosen candidates, rather than trying to wage a proxy war against the former president.

The Kentucky Republican noted Tuesday that he has intervened in Senate races in both Missouri and Alabama. In Missouri, Trump essentially refused to endorse a particular candidate, as he shifted his support to McConnell-backed Katie Britt in Alabama after falling out with her originally endorsed candidate, Rep. Mo Brooks.

Acyn (@Acyn) December 13, 2022

McConnell also repeated previous comments he made about the party’s roster of Senate candidates, including that he “didn’t say there was a red wave.”

But it was the first time he publicly tied Trump to the issue of “candidate quality,” which McConnell first raised in comments at an event in Kentucky in August.

He again mentioned the candidacies of Blake Masters in Arizona and Don Bolduc in New Hampshire, two candidates who rejected the legitimacy of the 2020 election and won their primaries with Trump’s support, easily defeating their Democratic opponents in November.

And he mentioned Herschel Walker, another scandal-plagued candidate pushed by Trump who was defeated by Democratic Sen. Georgia’s Raphael Warnock during last week’s runoff election.

“Look at Arizona, look at New Hampshire, and it’s a challenging situation in Georgia as well,” he said Tuesday.

“I think we had a chance to learn again, one more time: you have to have quality candidates to win a competitive Senate race,” he added.

In 2022, not only did every incumbent Democratic senator win election for the first time a Democrat had been in the White House since 1934 but they also expanded their Senate majority to 51 votes.

Spokespeople for Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.

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