Anybody could have guessed that Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-K.Y.) has become alienated from former President Donald Trump.
However, a bombshell report in a new book reveals just how much McConnell has expressed dislike toward the former president.
And McConnell predicted conservative voters would follow him, not Trump.
In their new book Peril, journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa reported, “McConnell said he saw Trump as a fading brand. Retired.”
They described a conversation between McConnell and Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican known for flip-flopping in his opinion of Trump.
McConnell reportedly described Trump as an “OTTB’ as they say in Kentucky — ‘off-the-track thoroughbred.”
“‘There is a clear trend moving,’ McConnell said, toward a place where the Republican Party is not dominated by Trump. ‘Sucking up to Donald Trump is not a strategy that works.'”
McConnell made this crack shortly after Trump’s second impeachment, Costa and Woodward reported. The Lexington Herald-Ledger asked McConnell’s office to verify the quotes, but he did not respond.
McConnell predicted that Trump would become a diminished figure after leaving office. He spoke as if the second impeachment would accelerate the process.
It seems he was wrong. Trump has maintained a very public profile after leaving office.
He continues to lead the field among possible candidates for 2024’s presidential primaries, according to a new Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll survey shared exclusively with The Hill.
Plus, recent Republican candidates have tended to pose as Trump allies during their campaigns. California Republican Larry Elder hugged Trump’s record during his bid for governor.
McConnell has always antagonized Trump. In early 2016, he predicted that Trump would fail to secure the Republican nomination. The New York Times reported that McConnell told his Republican colleagues, “We’ll drop him like a hot rock.”
Meanwhile, Trump has grown only more vocal in his criticisms of McConnell.
“Under the weak leadership of Mitch McConnell, Senate Republicans continue to lose,” Trump stated in July via his Save America PAC. “He lost Arizona, he lost Georgia.”
“I have quietly said for years that Mitch McConnell is the most overrated man in politics — now I don’t have to be quiet anymore,” Trump stated in August.
A bombshell report from the Wall Street Journal details Trump’s desire to unseat McConnell.
“Mr. Trump has spoken recently with senators and allies about trying to depose Mr. McConnell and whether any Republicans are interested in mounting a challenge, according to people familiar with the conversations,” the Journal reported. “The discussions risk driving a wedge deeper between the most influential figure in the Republican Party and its highest-ranking member in elected office.”
However, McConnell seems unlikely to leave his position as party leader. He has held the position for 14 years, and he has become entrenched in the role. McConnell ascended to party leadership at the same time as former House Speaker John Boehner. Yet, Boehner retired under pressure from the Tea Party movement, while McConnell survived.
McConnell himself seems unfazed by Trump and his loyalists. He believes that the Senate Republicans can beat Trump’s “ragtag network.”
“The only place I can see Trump and me actually at loggerheads would be if he gets behind some clown who clearly can’t win,” McConnell said, according to the book. “To have a chance of getting the Senate back, you have to have the most electable candidates possible.”
The book Peril came out on Sept. 21. The authors have become best known for their political reporting at the Washington Post. Woodward, in particular, achieved national fame for his work during the Watergate scandal.
The Horn editorial team