Former President Donald Trump is calling his Senate allies, GOP sources tell CNN, and making a suggestion as he tries to deflect blame for — the Republicans’ dismal midterm performance: Target Mitch McConnell.
Trump, who is facing a round of sharp criticism from within his own party that he hurt Republican candidates in the midterms, instead sought to stoke opposition to McConnell ahead of next week’s leadership election — even though his leader The GOP has already locked in enough support to win another two years, which would make him the longest-serving Senate party leader in US history.
But McConnell is facing fresh discord within the ranks as a faction of Senate Republicans grumbles internally over the timing of next week’s leadership election and are now calling for a delay — which multiple GOP sources and a member of the GOP leadership have indicated is impossible to happen.
The internal breach has sparked a new round of fears: that Republicans will find themselves at odds over their future and hurt their ability to come together before the Dec. 6 runoff for the US Senate seat in Georgia. Some of Trump’s allies fear his obsession with the Kentucky Republican will undermine their campaign in Georgia, with memories still raw for many in the party who blame the former president for costing them two seats and the Senate majority. in last year’s second round at Rodakino. Condition.
But privately, Trump is trying to direct the ire of the Democratic Party toward McConnell.
In phone conversations with allies, elected officials and new members of Congress, the former president accused McConnell of spending recklessly in states where Republicans faced significant adversity at the expense of candidates in more competitive contests. He and his aides were specifically referring to the Alaska Senate race, where the McConnell-aligned Senate Leadership Fund spent more than $5 million to attack a Trump-backed Republican challenger to incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski. That candidate, Kelly Tshibaka, looks poised to advance to a runoff against Murkowski on November 23.
Trump has been highly critical of McConnell’s decision to cut support for Arizona Senate hopeful Blake Masters over the summer, an aide noted. Masters currently trails incumbent Sen. Mark Kelly by more than 100,000 votes with 80 percent of the vote counted, according to CNN’s latest tallies.
Sources said Trump has conveyed those frustrations to nearly everyone he has spoken to since Tuesday, hoping it will translate into an onslaught of public criticism of McConnell.
“He’s not asking specific questions, but he wants to see more Republicans hold Mitch accountable,” said a second person close to Trump.
McConnell’s office declined to comment to CNN for this story.
But it was McConnell’s super PAC that was the biggest spender of all Senate races in either party — dropping more than $280 million in advertising along with its affiliated nonprofit group. Trump’s outside team spent a tiny fraction of that on Senate races.
In the Arizona race, McConnell told CNN last month that he and major GOP donor Peter Thiel had a discussion about “allocation of resources” as other outside groups went to support Masters. Additionally, it was McConnell’s team that poured about $30 million into Ohio to boost Trump-backed candidate JD Vance, who was running against Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan but ultimately won in a landslide.
Stephen Law, head of the Senate Leadership Fund, told CNN the group has tried to focus in concert on Biden and Democrats this cycle. But he suggested that Trump’s appearance on the campaign trail helped Democrats late in the cycle.
“Keeping the focus on Joe Biden and the Democrats who voted for inflationary spending and who supported soft-on-crime policies, those are the priorities,” Law said. “And to the extent that there is any distraction from that, it diminishes our ability to make that argument.”
Senate Republicans next week are set for a series of tense meetings. They are expected to meet behind closed doors next Tuesday for their first in-person meeting since the midterms.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who is calling for a delay in the leadership election, believes Republicans must first discuss “why the results were what they were and what we’re going to do about it,” a Rubio adviser said. . The adviser said Trump did not encourage Rubio to make the public call for a delay.
“First we need to make sure those who want to lead us are truly committed to fighting for the priorities and values of working Americans (of every background) that gave us big wins in states like Florida,” Rubio tweeted.
Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican who opposes McConnell’s leadership bid, also tweeted that Republicans should delay the election so as not to “disenfranchise” Herschel Walker, who is running for Georgia runoff to be held after the election.
And three GOP senators — Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Rick Scott of Florida and Mike Lee of Utah — sent a letter urging members of the GOP convention to postpone the leadership election scheduled for Wednesday. underscoring Senate Republicans’ frustration with the outcome of the 2022 election.
“We are all disappointed that a Red Wave failed to materialize and there are many reasons why it did not happen,” the letter states. “We need to have serious discussions in our conference about why and what we can do to improve our chances in 2024.”
Despite the push for a delay, Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming said the leadership election will go ahead as scheduled.
“We look forward to meeting next week with our new and returning members. I look forward to a full and open debate starting at Tuesday’s policy lunch about our way forward. On Wednesday we will meet again for our scheduled election conference,” Barrasso, who is overseeing the leadership election, said in a message to the conference obtained by CNN.
“I welcome the questions and points made in the letter released by Senators Rick Scott, Lee and Johnson,” he wrote.
While the path to a Republican majority is narrow, Johnson and Lee won their re-election races in 2022. Scott now serves in leadership as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the Senate GOP’s campaign arm.
Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn is “endorsing” Johnson to run for No. 4, chairman of the Republican policy committee, according to her spokesman.
“Someone suggested I run. I didn’t dismiss the idea, and then the rumors started flying,” Johnson told CNN about a possible leadership bid. “My primary goal is to have robust and organized discussions within the conference before any leadership election and to develop a more collaborative model for the conference.”
But McConnell’s allies say delaying an election where the GOP leader is unchallenged will only intensify internal divisions.
“We have to move forward,” one Senate GOP source said. “McConnell will win.”
