Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell became on Monday the highest-ranking Republican in Congress to rally behind President Donald Trump’s effort to dispute the election results and invalidate Joe Biden’s victory.
The President, feeling as though McConnell and others had abandoned him, lashed out at some GOP allies, and even dangled the idea of not helping Republicans in two runoff elections in Georgia that will decide which party controls the Senate, according to one person told about the outburst. Multiple sources close to McConnell have denied Trump said this directly to McConnell. While McConnell’s speech stopped short of endorsing Trump’s baseless allegations of fraud, it was a tacit acknowledgment of the leverage Trump holds over the party. «(McConnell) knows he needs Trump,» said a person familiar with the matter. «So you don’t want him blowing you up in the runoffs.» The person also said McConnell knows «being successful in Georgia is to keep Trump under the tent.» That, more than anything, explains why McConnell stepped out in support of Trump, according to one veteran GOP strategist. «He would probably be less accommodating if Trump didn’t have hostages,» said the strategist, referring to the power the President has to turn out voters in the runoffs. «How Trump behaves in the next 60 days is probably the single biggest variable at play.» On Monday evening, Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham of South Carolina echoed that sentiment in comments to CNN. «I think what would hurt our chances in Georgia is if we don’t put these systems under scrutiny,» Graham said. «If you know about it, and you forgive it, you’re legitimizing it. I’m not legitimizing it.» Together, Graham and McConnell’s remarks at least in part validated the President’s unsupported complaints. They also demonstrate how, even in defeat, Trump continues to wield considerable power over the Republican party — and likely will for years to come. After four years in office, Trump’s populist brand of economic nationalism remains the unchallenged heart of the GOP. Though he is just the fourth incumbent president since World War II to lose reelection, Republicans have no choice but to continue to embrace him or risk alienating his substantial base of supporters. In conversations with half a dozen GOP strategists, aides and operatives in the days before and following the election, that much is clear: Despite his defeat, Trump’s influence over the Republican party remains unquestioned.
