Will McConnell 'grovel' before Trump to unite the Republican Party?

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Peter Weber
·2 min read
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Republicans have a shot at winning the House and/or Senate in 2022, and President Trump may well run for president again in 2024, so in theory, Trump and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky), restored to majority leader, "could be back serving together in fewer than four years," Burgess Everett and Marianne Levine write at Politico. "But not if Trump keeps calling McConnell a 'dumb son of a bitch' and a 'stone-cold loser," as he did Saturday, in a widely panned speech before Republican donors.

"Hopefully there will be some sort of truce," Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), McConnell's No. 2, said Monday. "It's in everybody's best interest — including the former president, if he wants to continue to stay viable politically — to help us win the majority in 2022." Instead, Trump released another statement Monday night accusing McConnell of being too weak to "fight for the presidency" and, more stingingly, "fight for the court."

"The feud is mostly one-sided as of late," Burgess and Levine concede. "McConnell barely utters Trump's name these days and has no communication with the former president." But the rapprochement would have to be one-sided, too, Politico's Playbook explains:

Trump demands loyalty and doesn't give it in return. So even though it's Trump taking potshots — not McConnell — peace would require McConnell to do what House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and NRSC Chair Rick Scott (R-Fla.) have done in recent days: grovel. Scott over the weekend awarded Trump some sort of "NRSC Champion for Freedom Award" to butter him up. But can McConnell really stomach doing something like that after Jan. 6? [Politico]

Well, "if there's one thing that motivates McConnell more than anything, it's being majority leader," Playbook argues. "So perhaps a little ring-kissing will seem worth it if it's the price of taking back the Senate. Or not." Read more about the politics of a McConnell-Trump detente at Politico.

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