Donald Trump’s victory and impending return to power is a sound defeat of the Republican Party’s establishment wing, represented by the likes of Mitch McConnell, its longest-ever Senate leader.
For the past 17 years, the Kentucky Republican has used tactical nous and hardball politics to maintain power over an increasingly restive caucus. In Trump’s first term, the two worked together on tax legislation as well as on remaking the Supreme Court and much of the federal judiciary.
But their long-apparent friction exploded into full public view after Trump’s defeat in the 2020 election. McConnell harshly criticised Trump for his baseless claims of voter fraud and for “provoking” the January 6 attack at the US Capitol. The next two years saw Trump regularly savage him online as an “old broken down crow” and launch tirades against his Taiwanese-born wife.
Less than a month before Trump informally clinched the 2024 Republican presidential nomination in March, McConnell said he would step down as leader at the end of the term.
But there is another reason. Though aides have downplayed these concerns, he is now 82 years old and faces scrutiny over his health, including a concussion from a fall last year and two unexplained instances of freezing as he spoke in public.
McConnell says he has “enough gas in the tank to thoroughly disappoint my critics” and complete his Senate term, which ends in January 2027. But he will do it from an unusual position – the back benches.