Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has endorsed former President Donald Trump for reelection.
McConnell and Trump’s relationship soured in the wake of the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The senator’s endorsement came shortly after former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley suspended her campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.
“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,” McConnell said in a statement on March 6, per Axios.
“I look forward to the opportunity of switching from playing defense against the terrible policies the Biden administration has pursued to a sustained offense geared towards making a real difference in improving the lives of the American people,” he added.
According to a report from Fox News, McConnell’s office and Trump’s team have been discussing a potential endorsement for some time.
The Kentucky senator said Trump was “morally responsible” for the events at the Capitol on Jan. 6 during a speech in February 2021.
“The people that stormed this building believed they were acting on the wishes and instructions of their president,” McConnell said. “And having that belief was a foreseeable consequence of the growing crescendo of false statements, conspiracy theories and reckless hyperbole, which the defeated president kept shouting into the largest megaphone on the Earth.”
He also said Trump was “still liable for everything he did while he was in office” and suggested the former president could face both civil and criminal litigation.
Despite his statement, McConnell voted against convicting Trump during his impeachment trial.
McConnell announced on Feb. 28 that he would step down from his leadership position after over a decade. The 82-year-old was first elected to the Senate over 40 years ago.
“I know the politics within my party at this particular moment in time. I have many faults. Misunderstanding politics is not one of them,” he said during his address. “I believe more strongly than ever that America’s global leadership is essential to preserving the shining city on a hill that Ronald Reagan discussed.”
Prior to Jan. 6, McConnell and Trump had a cooperative relationship. The president campaigned on the senator’s behalf when he was up for reelection in 2018, calling him “Kentucky tough.” McConnell’s wife, Elaine Chao, served as Transportation Secretary under Trump. She resigned at the Capitol riot.
Trump, the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee, thanked McConnell for his endorsement in a brief statement on Truth Social.
“Thank you, Mitch,” he wrote. “I look forward to working with you and a Republican Senate MAJORITY to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
