Published March 7, 2024
Donald Trump’s dominating victories on Super Tuesday cemented his lock on the Republican presidential nomination, but Senate GOP leaders are reluctant to fully embrace the former president given his tendency to alienate college-educated women and other swing voters.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) finally announced his endorsement of Trump on Wednesday, the same day Nikki Haley dropped out of the presidential race.
But McConnell indicated to reporters that his views of Trump — and his doubts about his palatability with moderate and independent voters — remain unchanged.
McConnell, when asked about his endorsement in light of the excoriating denunciation of Trump he delivered on the Senate floor at the end of his second impeachment trial, told reporters Wednesday that he was always planning to support the GOP nominee for president in 2024, even if it was Trump.
“On Feb. 25, 2021, shortly after the attack on the Capitol, I was asked a similar question and I said I would support the nominee for president, even if it were the former president,” he said.
When then pressed whether he felt comfortable about Trump being the nominee given the 91 felony counts he faces in four different criminal prosecutions, McConnell simply said: “I don’t have anything to add to what I just said.”
“He obviously is going to be the nominee of our party,” he said.
