McConnell Admits Trump Has Put Republicans in ‘Quandary,’ Border Politics Has Now ‘Flipped’
Donald Trump’s imminent nomination as the Republican Party’s candidate for the President of the United States is paying immediate dividends for the American people.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) reportedly believes the politics of the border crisis has now “flipped,” signaling the Republican Party is poised to draw a much harder line on budget negotiations over issues like border security and funding for the Ukraine war.
A major factor in McConnell’s recalculation of the situation: Former President Donald Trump being all-but-assured of being the Republican nominee for President of the United States.
The Kentucky senator’s political recalculation was reportedly expressed behind closed doors to fellow Republicans and subsequently reported by Fox News.
The past few minutes, Jake Sherman with Punchbowl News had this about a McConnell meeting with Republican Senators,” Fox News’ Bret Baier began. “Senator McConnell told a closed meeting of Senate Republicans today that the politics of the border has ‘flipped’ and cast doubt on linking Ukraine and the border.”
“It quotes as him saying, ‘when we started this, the border united US and Ukraine divided us. The politics on this have changed. He told his GOP colleagues, he said he referred to Donald Trump as the nominee. ‘We don’t want to do anything to undermine him, and he wants to campaign and center it on immigration.’ So, quote, we’re in a ‘quandary.'”
“Now, his staff, he said something similar to that. We’ve asked some senators that were in the room. They didn’t characterize it, but you see what’s happening here as this disconnect is coming,” Baier added.
Whether McConnell’s reported political recalculation is solely for the purpose of optics — the Republican Party is under tremendous heat for ‘caving’ to the Democrats in budget negotiations — or a signal in Washington D.C. that GOP insiders believe Donald Trump might actually get re-elected, and thus, a coming to terms with policy priorities, is unclear.
More at: https://thepoliticsbrief.com/mcconnell-admits-trump-has-put-republicans-in-quandary-border-politics-has-now-flipped/