By Lisa Mascaro -
The Associated Press
The leader of the Republican caucus in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, supported Donald Trump's presidential candidacy on Wednesday, in a notable turn for those who denounced the “reprehensible” acts of the then president during the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 but Now he supports his attempt to return to the White House.
McConnell, the latest Republican leader to line up behind Trump, declared his support in a message shortly after Super Tuesday victories left the former president on the brink of winning the nomination.
[Haley ends her campaign for the Republican nomination: she leaves Trump the way clear to confront Biden]
The two men
had not spoken since 2020
, when McConnell declared Democrat Joe Biden the winner of the presidential election that year.
But more recently, their respective collaborators had begun talks for endorsement.
“It is more than clear that former President Trump has earned the required support from Republican voters to be our nominee for president of the United States,” McConnell said in a statement.
“It should come as no surprise to anyone that, as a candidate, he will have my support.”
The gesture by McConnell, who has said that he considers Trump “morally responsible” for the mob siege of Congress in 2021, places a seal of institutional legitimacy on the former president's attempt, accused of several crimes, to return to the White House.
A week ago, McConnell announced that he will leave his position as leader of his caucus, which he has held longer than any other senator in history, but will continue to serve as Republicans attempt to regain the majority in the Senate, while Trump disputes the presidency.
Trump now has the support of both the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, and the Republican senators who dispute McConnell's position as leader of the bloc.
McConnell, who represents Kentucky, said he and Trump “collaborated to accomplish great things for the American people.”
The senator had said early in the election cycle that he would support the Republican presidential candidate, whoever it was, but his endorsement of Trump is a notable development for two men who have put their political interests before their mutual dislike.
Trump routinely referred to McConnell in public as “old crow” and used racist insults against his wife, Elaine Chao, who had been transportation secretary during his presidency and had resigned after the assault on the Capitol, which McConnell called an insurrection.