'Keep better company': McConnell vows to 'stamp out' Trumpian 'America First' policies
12 July 2024
Sen. Mitch McConnell Friday vowed he'll be "stamping out" Donald Trump's foreign policy ethos and slammed the former president for rhetoric he linked to 1930s fascists, a new report shows.
McConnell made this declaration to Punchbowl News on the heals of a NATO summit that saw Hungary's authoritarian prime minister Viktor Orbán skip down to Mar-a-Lago with a powwow with Trump — despite warnings from the senate minority leader.
"Stamping out the Donald Trump-inspired foreign policy ethos from the GOP," has become crucial to McConnell, according to the report.
“This is going to be my top priority," McConnell (R-KY) reportedly said. “This is the most important thing going on in the world right now."
Trump, an outspoken critic of the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance, has repeatedly threatened to withdraw from the organization its supporters say protects global security by fortifying American allies.
But Trump also proved unable to answer a basic yes-or-no question about his position this week, and instead rambled for minutes about "insane asylum" occupants, COVID, the stock market, and President Joe Biden.
Trump allies such as Speaker Mike Johnson have pitted themselves against McConnell, an ally of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, by holding up aid to the war-torn nation battling a Russian invasion.
McConnell told Punchbowl News he believes it is more politically savvy to back Ukraine and pointed to a Trump-endorsed candidate's Senate primary defeat to a pro-Ukraine Republican.
He also took a jab at Trump foreign policy by noting the origins of his campaign slogan — used by white supremacists and fascists after World War I.
“The language they used in the ‘20s and ‘30s are similar to what you hear today — ‘America First,’” McConnell reportedly said.
McConnell also slammed Trump for meeting with Orbán.
“I’m hoping [conservatives] might decide they better keep better company," said McConnell. "This guy’s completely in bed with the Chinese and the Russians."