Donald Trump’s early entrance into the 2024 election cycle was a long-calculated piece of politicking that some within the GOP were not all that fond of.
Trump’s intent was to beat the rest of the field to the race, forcing some lesser known candidates to reevaluate how many resources they want to gather only to be trounced by the former President in the primaries.
But Trump’s wishes haven’t exactly come true just yet, as a number of Republicans continue to stew over their own decisions, and with longtime Washington swamp-dwellers like Mitch McConnell attempting to sully his good name all around town.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell claimed Tuesday that the Republican Party had a “candidate quality” issue in the midterm elections and blamed former President Donald J. Trump for his influence in the GOP primaries.
When a reporter asked McConnell if he expects to “take a more active role in choosing candidates” in 2024, he responded by referencing November’s midterm elections, asserting that he “never said there was a red wave” on the horizon.
“I said we had a bunch of close races, and looking at each race separately, I wasn’t making that up,” he added before blaming the lackluster election results on “candidate quality.”
That wasn’t all:
“I do think we had an opportunity to relearn one more time: you have to have quality candidates to win competitive senate races,” he added.
McConnell then asserted that his ability to influence primary election outcomes was hindered by Trump and the power behind his endorsement in primary races.
“Our ability to control primary outcome was quite limited in ’22 because of the support of the former president proved to be very decisive in these primaries, so my view was do the best you can with the cards you’re dealt,” he continued.
McConnell’s feud with Trump has been ongoing for some time, beginning shortly after Trump left the White House and leaving many to wonder just how truthful the Senate staple had been about his feelings beforehand.
