McConnell’s relationship with Trump is 'as icy as ever' — despite endorsement

03 April 2024

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) drew a great deal of criticism when he endorsed 2024 GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump on March 6, the day former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley gave her concession speech and officially dropped out of the race.

McConnell's endorsement wasn't especially warm or enthusiastic. The 82-year-old Republican, who is stepping down as GOP leader in the U.S. Senate in November, matter-of-factly stated, "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. It should come as no surprise that as nominee, he will have my support."

Nonetheless, the fact that McConnell endorsed Trump at all infuriated the former president's detractors, many of whom pointed out that McConnell blamed Trump for the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol Building.

According to The Hill's Alexander Bolton, McConnell hasn't spoken to Trump since the endorsement —and their relationship "remains as icy as ever."

In an article published on April 3, Bolton reports, "McConnell still doesn't talk to Trump, even while some of his top deputies — Senate GOP Whip John Thune (SD) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) — have reached out to the presumptive Republican nominee personally in an effort to mend fences. …. McConnell says his goal is to leave a Senate Republican majority to his successor, but he's keeping away from Trump, making no effort to defend him from Democratic attacks."

McConnell, according to Bolton, "has made it clear his endorsement of Trump was purely out of a sense of duty to the party and not because he's changed his mind about Trump's character or fitness for office." And the Senate minority leader, Bolton adds, confirmed to Louisville-based radio host Terry Meiners that he hadn't recently spoken to Trump.

"McConnell's relationship with Trump has been ice-cold since the two stopped speaking to each other in December 2020," Bolton observes. "Trump repeatedly attacked McConnell and his wife, Elaine Chao, despite the fact she served as his secretary of transportation, and frequently urged Senate Republicans to oust him from the top leadership spot."

The reporter adds, "Especially galling to McConnell, Trump has mocked Chao, who is Asian- American, with racist nicknames, such as his 'China-loving wife' and 'Coco Chow.' The Senate GOP leader has steadfastly refused to say Trump's name in public and has rebuked him from time to time, albeit indirectly."

Al Cross, director emeritus of the University of Kentucky's Institute of Rural Journalism, describes McConnell's Trump endorsement as "just business" and their relationship as "100 percent business and zero percent personal."

Cross told The Hill, "They handle their business transactions through intermediaries, and they're not having anything else to do with each other until they absolutely have to…. It's fair to say or fair to speculate that if Trump had not been so nasty to McConnell and his wife, there might have been a little of warmth in the endorsement."

Read The Hill's full report at this link.

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