Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) said the race to succeed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) should not be a major focus in the months leading up to the 2024 election, and instead Republicans should be concentrating on taking control of the upper chamber.
McConnell announced that he would step away from leadership in late February, throwing possible successors into an extended battle to succeed him in the midst of the presidential election.
While many Republicans are feeling good about their chances of taking control of the Senate this cycle, there are still a lot of unknowns about which Senate candidates might succeed, how big their majority may be, and if former President Donald Trump takes back the White House.
“I think what we need to do is to take the majority and then cross that bridge when we are ready to get to it,” Blackburn said during an interview with the Washington Examiner following a visit to the border in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Tuesday.
Sens. John Thune (R-SD) and John Cornyn (R-TX) announced their intentions to run to replace McConnell as the Senate Republican leader, while Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) has expressed a potential interest. When asked if any of her Republican colleagues had been actively campaigning for her vote, Blackburn reiterated that these decisions should not take place now.
“The focus needs to be on taking the U.S. Senate and making certain that Donald Trump is president of the United States,” Blackburn said.
The Tennessee senator’s trip to the border in Texas comes as immigration and border policy have become a flashpoint in the looming election. Blackburn said she last visited Eagle Pass in January of last year and was impressed to see the area appeared to be experiencing some improvements after erecting barriers.
“Since that time, Texas DPS has put up buoys and containers at the water’s edge and fencing and razor wire, they have secured that area, and now they have crossings in the dozens instead of in the thousands,” Blackburn said. “It’s really encouraging to see what they have done.”
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“This shows you that other areas of the border would be well served to get busy and find ways to erect a barrier,” she added.
According to figures from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Border Patrol agents made 140,644 arrests of people attempting to enter the country between the legal border crossing points during February. These numbers come after the Border Patrol reported a record 249,785 arrests during December, but are up slightly from January when the numbers plunged to 124,220.
