The establishment, on both sides, has been declaring former President Trump “finished” for years now. This time, they always say, Trump simply cannot come back and cannot retain his popularity among the GOP base.
Well, it could be the case that “this time” is different than previous “this times” that have come and gone. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has now thrown in with the “this time” crowd by declaring that Trump is formally “diminished” and that the Republican Party will end up doing better without him next time around.
McConnell also implied that Trump would have less time to spend in politics since he “may have other things to do” like fight legal battles or run golf tournaments:
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) says he will not let the unfavorable qualities surrounding former President Donald Trump ruin the Republican Party’s chances for success in 2024.
McConnell, like many top GOP leaders, blames Trump for the party’s less-than-expected performance in the 2022 midterm elections.
Most of Trump’s endorsed candidates lost their races, whose far-right campaigns pushed centrist Republicans and independents, important swing voters, to vote for Democrats, McConnell said in an interview with NBC News. He said he is not going to let the mistakes of 2022 happen again, saying he will “actively look for quality candidates” for the 2024 primary season.
McConnell added that he thinks Trump’s power is on the decline and asked him to step away from interfering in the Senate primaries come next year.
“Here’s what I think has changed: I think the former president’s political clout has diminished. We can do a better job with less potential interference. The former president may have other things to do,” he said.
He added that Trump’s diminished standing has made McConnell and his allies within the Senate Leadership Fund super PAC less likely to “accept cards that may be dealt to us.”
McConnell said that the GOP underperformed in “every state,” including Arizona, Ohio, New Hampshire, and Georgia.
This is the same McConnell that less than 48 hours ago declared that the number one priority of Republican voters is to keep sending billions of dollars to Ukraine to fight a proxy war with Russia. Meanwhile, the southern border rages like a bad infection and neither party seems intent on doing much about it.
That is, perhaps, the most telling aspect of watching the GOP establishment declare Trumpism dead heading into 2023. Does this mean that Trump’s priorities will also be abandoned by top Republican brass with a throwback to the days when John McCain and Mitt Romney ran the party? Those were the days when Republicans lost two presidential elections and wandered nationally with the exception of 2010 when a populist Tea Party revolt took over conservative politics. Despite the populist, small-government movement, Mitt Romney won the Republican nomination in 2012 and spent a year apologizing for his wealth and trying to paint himself as “severely conservative” but couldn’t play the part.
The party meandered for years until victories in 2014 built on victories in 2010. Then came Donald Trump in 2015 saying the things Republican voters wanted to hear. Build the wall, secure the border, end senseless wars, stop getting ripped off by the world, and make America great again.
If establishment types like McConnell have their way, it’ll be a return to the time of announcing personalities like McCain or Romney as the ideal Republican candidate. They’re pragmatic, dry, and guaranteed to lose national elections.
McConnell’s statement also implies that in 2022, the establishment backed away from engaging in a hot war with Trump in the primary. What McConnell’s saying now is that with Trump’s “diminished clout,” the crack in the door is open to an intra-party battle that might make 2022 look like a cakewalk.
