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Mitch McConnell blames Trump squarely for disappointing midterm elections: Republican leader says we ‘couldn’t control’ primary results because of the former president, and ‘you have to do the best with the cards you’re dealt’
- Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the comments at his weekly briefing.
- It is his most direct rebuke of Donald Trump regarding the 2022 midterm elections so far.
- McConnell was speaking a week after Trump-backed NFL star Herschel Walker lost his challenge to Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock.
- He noted that he raised concerns about the “quality of candidates” in the summer.
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Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell blamed Donald Trump squarely on Tuesday for the party’s lackluster performance in the midterm elections.
It was the veteran Kentucky lawmaker’s most direct attack on Trump to date during the Nov. 8 election.
“Our ability to control the results of the primary was quite limited in 2022 because the support of the former president turned out to be very decisive in this primary,” McConnell told reporters when asked if he expected to take a more “active” role in the election. of candidates in the 2024 cycle.
“So my point of view was, do the best with the cards you’re dealt.”
He distanced himself from a large section of Republicans who expected a ‘red wave’ to hit Congress.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky on Tuesday issued his most direct rebuke of Donald Trump’s influence in the 2022 midterm election cycle.
“I never said there was a red wave, I said we had a lot of close races,” McConnell said.
The Kentucky Republican spoke at his regular Senate GOP press conference exactly one week after the Georgia Senate runoff, where Trump-backed NFL star Herschel Walker lost to Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock. .
The race was largely viewed as winnable by the Republicans, with the Republican Party winning the vast majority of state and local races in the Peach State.
While the vast majority of the incumbents Trump endorsed won re-election, his endorsement was also blamed for pushing weak Republican primary candidates over the finish line only to be defeated by more moderate Democratic alternatives in the general election.
McConnell said the Senate GOP ended up “having a candidate quality problem,” echoing a similar warning he made in August about nominee selection.
“Look at Arizona, look at New Hampshire, there was also a challenging situation in Georgia,” the senator said.
All three states had Trump-aligned candidates who failed to defeat Democratic incumbents who were seen as vulnerable earlier in the year.
McConnell noted that the Senate Leadership Fund, a PAC affiliated with him, invested in candidates in Alabama and Missouri.
Both had successful Republican candidates for the Senate, whom Trump endorsed after assuring them that they would be favorites in their mutual races.
Despite making it abundantly clear that he holds Trump accountable, McConnell has never directly responded to whether he will be more “active” in the selection of candidates early in the election cycle.
“Our ability to control the results of the primary was quite limited in 2022 because the support of the former president turned out to be very decisive in this primary,” McConnell told reporters.
McConnell made the comments exactly one week after the highly anticipated Georgia Senate runoff, in which Democrats increased their majority by one seat with the defeat of Trump-backed former NFL star Herschel Walker (pictured ).
“Hopefully, in the next cycle, we will have quality candidates everywhere and a better result,” McConnell concluded.
Trump and his allies have blamed McConnell for the Republicans’ failure to win back the Senate.
The former president accused McConnell of not doing enough to help candidates in competitive races, such as Blake Masters in Arizona, who was defeated by incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly.
He also angered the Republican Senate leader for spending millions to help Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski keep her Alaska seat against Republican denialist Kelly Tshibaka.
It’s Mitch McConnell’s fault. Spending money to defeat big Republican candidates instead of backing Blake Masters and others was a huge mistake,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social app last month.
‘He’s blown his midterms and everyone looks down on him and his lovely wife, Coco Chow!’