Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday brushed off talk of concerns that former President Donald Trump would launch a bid for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination ahead of the midterm elections.
The Kentucky Republican instead said his focus remains on Republicans winning a Senate majority in November. The Senate is now split 50-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting tiebreaking votes in favor of Democrats.
McConnell argued that voters are more focused on the midterm elections than the next presidential cycle, adding that he sees them as a bellwether on how things may go in 2024.
“Look, it’s a free country. We’ve got 330 million people, and who knows who’s going to start talking about ‘24?” McConnell told reporters on Tuesday. “It seems to me the American people are focused on ‘22 and ought to be because that is the next election, and they’re going to send an important signal about which way they might want to go for ’24 in November ’22.”
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McConnell’s comments come as reports have emerged in recent weeks indicating the former president is weighing whether to announce a third bid this summer. Some Republicans fear it could derail their messaging strategy of taking aim at the Biden administration.
McConnell has a nonexistent relationship with Trump, having denounced the former president after the Jan. 6 riots that sought to overturn his loss in the 2020 election to President Joe Biden. McConnell voted against convicting Trump in both impeachment trials. But McConnell has otherwise broken with Trump and says they haven’t spoken since the waning weeks of the president’s term in office.
With the Jan. 6 select committee continuing its public hearings into Trump’s role in allegedly inciting a violent mob to derail the certification of the 2020 election results, some worry that an announcement could derail their election strategy.
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Some senior lawmakers have voiced they need to keep their eye on the prize and are hoping for as few distractions as possible.
