Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said on Wednesday that he plans to support Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election, despite several years of icy relations between the two.
“It is abundantly clear that former President Trump has earned the requisite support of Republican voters to be our nominee for President of the United States,” McConnell said in a statement. “It should come as no surprise that as nominee, he will have my support.”
McConnell's endorsement of Trump follows monthslong chats between his confidant Josh Holmes and Trump campaign strategist Chris LaCivita about aligning each about U.S. Senate races, according to CNN.
McConnell's statement came directly on the heels of Republican challenger Nikki Haley's suspension of her GOP primary bid after only winning one of 15 Super Tuesday states. A source told CNN that McConnell, who has not spoken to Trump since 2020 and openly blamed him for the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot, did not communicate with the former president before making his statement. McConnell's support follows similar pro-Trump sentiment vocalized by Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, both of whom are vying to replace McConnell after he announced last week that he would step down as Senate GOP leader.
"How humiliating for Mitch," tweeted Republican strategist Sarah Longwell, the founder of the Republican Accountability Project.
"It can’t be overstated how McConnell’s decision to not try to convict Trump in his January 6th impeachment trial opened the door for his comeback," wrote Jon Lemire, an MSNBC host and Politico's White House bureau chief.
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