Mitch McConnell told NBC News that the reason the party lost was that Donald Trump’s candidates were seen as “nasty” and “attracted to chaos.” He vows not to bow to his candidates again.
“Here’s what I think has changed: I think the former president’s political clout has diminished,” McConnell told far-left NBC News on Wednesday in a wide-ranging interview in his Capitol Hill office.
The diminished standing has made McConnell and his deep-pocketed Senate Leadership Fund super PAC “less inclined to accept cards that may be dealt to us,” he said.
“We can do a better job with less potential interference,” he said. “The former president may have other things to do.”
McConnell’s perfect candidate in Colorado lost overwhelmingly.
“We can do a better job with less potential interference,” he said. “The former president may have other things to do.”
TRUMP’S CANDIDATES ARE NASTY AND CHAOTIC
He blamed Donald Trump for hurting the party’s image among independent and liberal Republicans.
McConnell said that the party underperformed in “every state” — including the red state of Ohio, which Republicans narrowly won — and that its performance was “fatal” in Arizona, New Hampshire, and Georgia.
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“We lost support that we needed among independents and moderate Republicans, primarily related to the view they had of us as a party — largely made by the former president — that we were sort of nasty and tended toward chaos,” McConnell said. “And oddly enough, even though that subset of voters did not approve of President Biden, they didn’t have enough confidence in us in several instances to give us the majority we needed.”
McConnell said he didn’t intervene with Donald Trump’s candidates after he “looked at the landscape” and believed he had only two chances to pick favorites against flawed candidates: in Missouri, to defeat scandal-plagued Eric Greitens, and in Alabama, to stop far-right Rep. Mo Brooks.
TRUMP’S SUPPORT WAS TOO STRONG TO FIGHT
“In the other states, Trump’s support was so significant — we could have spent a lot of money, maybe trying to come up with a different candidate and maybe not succeeding,” he said. “And so my conclusion was that everywhere else, we had to play with the cards that were dealt.”
McConnell won’t endorse in the presidential primary. He has suggested Trump cannot win the nomination again, but he kept the door open to backing him in the general election if he does.
THE FEUD
He had been feuding over strategy with Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, the GOP Senate campaign chief. Scott rejects McConnell’s view that Trump was the problem. He argues Republicans lost because they failed to offer an agenda that inspires voters. Scott even mounted a rare challenge to McConnell for the caucus’ top job and lost.
NBC blamed McConnell for working on getting a 6-3 conservative majority on the Supreme Court, which led to the Dobbs decision. NBC believes that cost him the election.
“They may have been ginned up some with their base,” McConnell said. But he insisted: “Our biggest problem was candidate quality.” McConnell fought for Murkowski and has already begun to fight for Romney, claiming he’s too valuable to lose.
OPINION
Democrats and RINOs like the late John McCain viciously attacked the platform of America First because it was so effective. This time around, what was the Republican platform? I couldn’t tell you.
Did McConnell step aside for Trump candidates?
McConnell just gave us a socialist bill. It spends way too much money and sends most of it overseas for gender identity, foreign borders, wars, etc. It takes away the power of the purse from the House. There is nothing for US borders that are now overrun and changing our demographics and way of life. Is that what we stand for now? Apparently so.
The Candidates
Democrats had some horrendous candidates, especially Mr. Fetterman in Pennsylvania. While it is true that we lost much of the Independent vote, could some of it have been tied to the fact that Republicans aren’t fighting? We are losing our country and liberal Republicans; establishment Republicans act as if it’s business as usual.
We don’t fight for fiscal conservatism, push wars while our borders no longer exist, or sit back while crime festers and law enforcement is demeaned. It doesn’t seem like a great platform.
Republicans won the House, and we now have 18 Senators who took away their ability to fight Democrats. We now know why. This is their agenda.
Progressives Are Winning Over Demographics
The fact is Progressive – hard-left Democrats – have taken over the party and want more of what they have done in California and New York. Lee Zeldin ran on a conservative platform of fighting crime and helped New York Republicans take seats they would have lost. He stood for something. Mr. Zeldin fought for something. He lost because of the altered demographics in the state.
McConnell appears to have waved the white flag. What does he fight for? Breadcrumbs and the military. The military is essential, but he thinks Ukraine is our primary concern.
The worst problem we have is the country is moving hard-left due to the changing demographics planned by Democrats and abetted by RINOs.
Are Trump’s candidates nasty or just portrayed that way by the media, which is in the hands of only six conglomerates? All but one of the six are hard-left. Soros has now bought the conservative Latino radio.
McConnell is basically saying the establishment is back and will fight conservatives.
What view do you take? Do you agree with McConnell? We would love to hear your opinion.
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