President Donald Trump shakes hands with Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) at a Keep America Great Rally at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky, November 4, 2019.
Yuri Gripas | Reuters
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell endorsed Donald Trump for president on Wednesday, ending years of hostilities between the two leading Republicans.
McConnell’s announcement solidifies Trump’s support among top Republican congressmen as he is on track to face President Joe Biden in a rematch of the 2020 election in November.
“It is abundantly clear that former President Trump has won the necessary support from Republican voters to become our nominee for president of the United States,” McConnell, R-Ky., said in a statement.
“It should be no surprise that he will have my support as a nominee,” said McConnell, who announced last week that he would step down from his leadership position in the Senate in November.
“During his presidency, we worked together to achieve great things for the American people, including tax reform that boosted our economy and generational change in our federal judiciary – most notably the Supreme Court,” he said.
“I look forward to the opportunity to move from defense against the Biden administration’s terrible policies to a sustained offense aimed at making a real difference in improving the lives of the American people.”
McConnell’s announcement came minutes after former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley announced she was suspending her campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.
Haley, Trump’s last remaining major Republican primary rival, did not support him in the statement announcing the suspension.
A Trump campaign spokesman did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
McConnell, who has been leader of the Senate for 17 years, and Trump, the de facto head of the GOP, have clashed repeatedly since Trump was elected president in 2016.
But McConnell’s decision to support Trump was not unexpected.
Shortly after Trump’s impeachment trial for inciting the deadly riots at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, McConnell stated on the Senate floor that there was “no question, no question, that President Trump was practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of that day.” .”
But McConnell voted against convicting Trump on the charges, as did more than enough other Republican senators who acquitted the former president.
Just a month after the trial, McConnell told Fox News that he would “absolutely” support Trump if he became the Republican presidential nominee in 2024.
Although Trump and McConnell have not spoken in person in years, the two men’s advisers have discussed support in recent months, NBC News reported in late February.
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2024-03-06 16:37:41
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