Senate Majority Chuck Schumer said history won’t be kind to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell but added that the Kentucky Republican has a chance to “salvage some of that reputation” by taking steps to restore the Republican Party to how it was prior to the ascendance of former President Donald Trump.
In an interview with Punchbowl News conducted during the Democratic National Convention and released Monday, Schumer predicted McConnell’s role in pushing the U.S. Supreme Court further to the right in the hope of accomplishing GOP priorities, including the reversal of Roe v. Wade, will “go down poorly” in history.
Schumer also pointed out McConnell’s continued support for Trump despite his disagreements with him on several issues, including Ukraine.
“Even when McConnell thought Trump was wrong, he went along with him too many times,” Schumer said.
While McConnell sharply criticized Trump over his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, calling him “practically and morally responsible” for the Capitol riot, he still endorsed him in the 2024 race once his final major rival, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, dropped out.
Schumer said that once McConnell leaves his GOP leadership position, he could find a “constructive role” in pushing back against the isolationist foreign policy positions most of his party has adopted under the direction of Trump.
McConnell “can salvage some of that reputation — and I’m not trying to tell him what to do — by trying to get the old Republican Party back,” Schumer said. “He will ally with us in not being isolationist.”
McConnell, for instance, was one of his party’s most ardent advocates for continued U.S. support of Ukraine even as many of his GOP colleagues and Trump balked at the prospect of sending further funds to Kyiv amid the war against Russia.
Schumer also expressed hope that if Trump loses by a wide margin in November, that could potentially convince enough Republicans to abandon the former president and also be more willing to work across the aisle.
“I know from my Senate experience and my friendship with Senate colleagues that many of them, even if they go along with Trump, don’t like him and don’t think he’s good for their party or what they believe in,” Schumer said. “Exhibit A is Mitch McConnell.”
Earlier this year, McConnell announced he would step down from his GOP Senate leadership post after the 2024 election. The move also appeared to be a recognition of his waning influence within the Republican Party, which has continued to rally around Trump.
McConnell was booed at the Republican National Convention in July when he briefly appeared on the screen.
