Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday endorsed former President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential race.
The relationship between McConnell and Trump has been strained for years; the two have reportedly not spoken since December 2020 and the Senate leader blamed the former president for incting the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol in 2021. McConnell’s endorsement for Trump comes just hours after the 2024 Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley dropped out of the race on Wednesday, according to The Washington Post. (RELATED: Mitch McConnell Will Step Down As Senate Republican Leader In November)
“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 to the Post. “It should come as no surprise that as nominee, he will have my support.”
“During his presidency, we worked together to accomplish great things for the American people including tax reform that supercharged our economy and a generational change of our federal judiciary — most importantly, the Supreme Court,” McConnell told the Post. “I look forward to the opportunity of switching from playing defense against the terrible policies the Biden administration has pursued to a sustained offense geared towards making a real difference in improving the lives of the American people.”
WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 28: U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) departs the Senate chamber on February 28, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Nathan Howard/Getty Images)
McConnell and Trump did not speak to each other directly about the endorsement before it was issued, instead communicating through their advisers, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. An adviser to Trump said McConnell’s endorsement was welcome news, according to the Post.
“Thank you, Mitch. I look forward to working with you and a Republican Senate MAJORITY to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump said in a Truth Social post on Wednesday.
McConnell announced in late February he would step down from his leadership position in November but will serve out the remainder of his Senate term – “albeit from a different seat in the chamber,” he said at the time – which ends in January 2027.
“One of life’s most underappreciated talents is to know when it’s time to move on to life’s next chapter,” McConnell said in February. “So I stand before you today … to say that this will be my last term as Republican leader of the Senate.”
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