McConnell directly blames Trump for midterms: GOP leader says we ‘couldn’t control’ primary results

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday directly blamed Donald Trump for the party’s lackluster showing in the midterm elections.

It was the veteran Kentucky legislator’s most direct attack at Trump yet over the November 8 races. 

‘Our ability to control primary outcomes was quite limited in ’22 because the support of the former president proved to be very decisive in these primaries,’ McConnell told reporters when asked if he expects to take a more ‘active’ role in choosing candidates in the 2024 cycle.

‘So my view was, do the best with the cards you’re dealt.’

He distanced himself from a large section of Republicans who were expecting a ‘red wave’ to hit Congress.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky issued his most direct rebuke of Donald Trump’s influence in the 2022 midterm election cycle yet on Tuesday

 ‘I never said there was a red wave, I said we had a bunch of close races,’ McConnell said.

The Kentucky Republican spoke at his regular Senate GOP press conference exactly a week after Georgia’s Senate runoff, where Trump-backed NFL star Herschel Walker lost to Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock.

The race was largely seen as winnable for Republicans, and the GOP won the vast majority of state and local races in the Peach State.

While the vast majority of incumbents who Trump endorsed did win re-election, his support was also blamed for pushing weak GOP primary candidates over the finish line only to be defeated by more moderate Democratic alternatives in the general election. 

McConnell said the Senate GOP ended up ‘having a candidate quality’ issue, echoing a similar warning he made in August about selecting nominees.  

‘Look at Arizona, look at New Hampshire, there was a challenging situation in Georgia as well,’ the senator said.

All three states had Trump-aligned candidates who failed to defeat Democratic incumbents that were seen as vulnerable earlier in the year.

McConnell pointed out that the Senate Leadership Fund, a PAC affiliated with him, did invest in candidates in Alabama and Missouri.

Both had successful Republican Senate candidates – whom Trump endorsed after they were assured to be frontrunners in their mutual races.

Despite making it abundantly clear that he holds Trump responsible, McConnell never answered directly whether he will be more ‘active’ in selecting candidates earlier in the election cycle. 

‘Our ability to control primary outcomes was quite limited in ’22 because the support of the former president proved to be very decisive in these primaries,’ McConnell told reporters

McConnell made the comments exactly a week after Georgia’s highly anticipated Senate runoff election, which saw Democrats grow their majority by one seat with the defeat of Trump-backed former NFL star Herschel Walker (pictured)

‘Hopefully in the next cycle, we’ll have quality candidates everywhere and a better outcome,’ McConnell finished his remarks.

Trump and his allies have laid blame with McConnell for Republicans’ failure to win back the Senate.

The former president has accused McConnell of not doing enough to help candidates in competitive races, like Blake Masters in Arizona, who was defeated by incumbent Democrat Sen. Mark Kelly.

He also fumed at the GOP Senate leader for instead spending millions to help GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski keep her seat in Alaska against Republican election denier Kelly Tshibaka.

‘It’s Mitch McConnell’s fault. Spending money to defeat great Republican candidates instead of backing Blake Masters and others was a big mistake,’ Trump wrote on his Truth Social app last month.

‘He blew the Midterms, and everyone despises him and his otherwise lovely wife, Coco Chow!’