Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told Fox News on Thursday that he would “absolutely” support Donald Trump if wins the Republican Party nomination for president in 2024.
McConnell told Fox News host Bret Baier that the Republican Party 2024 primary “should be a wide-open race,” and that there are “at least four” Senate Republicans who are planning on running.
Asked by Baier if he would support Trump if he is the Republican nominee, McConnell responded, “the nominee of the party? Absolutely.”
Two weeks ago, McConnell said Trump was “practically and morally responsible” for the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and could face prosecution for his role which he called a “disgraceful dereliction of duty.”
McConnell’s scathing criticism of Trump led the former President to hit back with a deeply personal attack of his own calling McConnell “dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack.”
“There’s a lot to happen between now and ‘24,” McConnell told Fox News on Thursday. “There’s no incumbent, it should be a wide open race, and fun for you all to cover.”
But, McConnell’s shifting stance just further shows the hold Trump has on the party, that will likely grow stronger in 2024 depending on how the party performs in the 2022 midterms.
As it stands now though, even some of Trump’s staunchest critics, like Sen. Mitt Romney is admitting that if Trump should run in 2024 he’ll likely win the Republican Party nomination.
“I’m pretty sure he will win the nomination,” Romney said Tuesday in an interview with The New York Times. “I look at the polls and the polls show that, among the names being floated as potential contenders in 2024, if you put President Trump in there among Republicans, he wins in a landslide.”
