Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell broke with Donald Trump and reiterated that he does not believe a former president has absolute immunity from prosecution as the Supreme Court has ruled that any question is asked just months before the presidential election.
Trump’s lawyers argued before the Supreme Court last week that he has immunity in a case arising from special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and election interference.
Trump now faces four criminal charges in the case as he tried to overturn the 2020 election after his loss to President Biden. He also faces three separate criminal charges.
McConnell was asked in an interview on CBS News’ Face the Nation on Sunday whether he thought former presidents “should be completely immune from liability.”
McConnell pushed back, stating that he stands by everything he has previously said on this issue.
Senate Minority Leader McConnell in an interview with Face the Nation, where he broke with Trump by reiterating his position that former presidents should not have immunity
Trump is charged in four separate criminal cases. His lawyer argued before the Supreme Court that the ex-president has immunity as a result of the election interference case in Washington, D.C.
After the attack on January 6, 2021, McConnell voted to acquit Trump during his second impeachment trial. But McConnell said Trump didn’t get away with anything.
“We have a criminal justice system in this country. We have civil lawsuits, and former presidents are not immune from being held liable by either,” McConnell said on February 13, 2021.
‘I stand by everything I said then. Obviously it’s up to the Supreme Court to decide whether I was right,” McConnell told Face the Nation on Sunday.
Trump’s lawyer argued during Thursday’s hearing that only former presidents who have been impeached and convicted by the Senate can face criminal charges.
A sketch of Trump’s lawyer John Sauer making his argument that Trump is immune from prosecution before the Supreme Court on April 25, 2024
Trump on January 6, 2021. McConnell called the ex-president ‘morally responsible’ after the attack on the Capitol
Trump was impeached, but McConnell played a role in ensuring the ex-president was not convicted with his vote to acquit Trump in the Senate.
When moderator Margaret Brennan pointed this out, McConnell responded, “I don’t regret what I said then. I didn’t accept it, whatever I said at the time, but the answer to your question will be in court. The Supreme Court will decide that.”
The nation’s highest court appeared poised to reject Trump’s claim of absolute immunity last week, but conservative justices signaled they could further delay his trial for election interference.
After the Jan. 6 attack, McConnell denounced Trump as “morally responsible” for the mob that stormed the Capitol.
But while McConnell said he stands by what he said about Jan. 6 and Trump’s role, he has already supported Trump in his current bid for the White House.
The endorsement came after Super Tuesday last month, when Trump moved closer to the official nomination and last Republican opponent Nikki Haley dropped out of the race.
McConnell told the party candidate that Trump would receive his support.
The Senate minority leader doubled down on that support on Face the Nation on Sunday, saying Republican voters across the country had made up their minds.
Trump and McConnell together at a campaign rally in 2019. McConnell endorsed Trump for president last month despite his criticism of the ex-president
“As the Republican leader of the Senate, I am obviously going to support our party’s nominee,” he said.
Trump and McConnell have long had a tumultuous relationship.
The pair worked side by side on key pieces of legislation while Trump was in power and McConnell was Senate majority leader, but the ex-president has also lashed out at the Republican senator and his wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao. on numerous occasions.
If the ex-president is re-elected for a second term, he and McConnell will once again work together on GOP priorities, as McConnell will still be in the Senate.
However, McConnell will not serve as Republican Leader in the Senate again, even if Republicans regain the majority in the Senate.
The 82-year-old lawmaker announced in February that he would resign in November, paving the way for a new Republican Senate leader.