Former President Donald Trump Wants Lindsey Graham To Beat Mitch McConnell. Graham LOL’d

Since leaving the officeFormer President Donald Trump made no secret of his exact wishes revenge Mitch McConnell, by rallying pro-Trump senators to prevent McConnell from returning to his majority leadership post. But the former president has been tight-lipped about who, exactly, he would want back as McConnell’s future dethroning.

However, in private conversations with close associates over the past few months, at Mar-a-Lago and elsewhere, Trump has beaten a handful of GOP senators’ names in his quest to tie it to riot abs.”stupid bastard“McConnell. Since at least late last year, Trump has asked a repeat question.

“Do you think Lindsey can do it?” He has asked advisers, according to two sources who have heard him ask this same question at different points over the past four months.

He was, of course, referring to Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who was one of Trump’s favorite golf buddies and Trump’s confidant on Capitol Hill during his four years in the White House. .

The former president’s quest to thwart McConnell’s expected return to office – provided Republicans win back the Senate in November – is rooted in a long-standing feud between the two men. From 2016. current culture of his party locally, state and nationally. levels.

Most recently, Trump became angry at McConnell for finally admitting that Joe Biden had clearly won the 2020 presidential election and blaming Trump for instigating mob violence in Washington, DC, early last year. Last year, he began to frequently refer to McConnell derisively as “The Old Crow” in press releases and at political events, a moniker that Kentucky Republicans have used since and even lice used in fundraising.

McConnell, who ignored his anger and voted to acquit Trump in his impeachment trial a year ago, has been working behind the scenes in hopes of turning the 2022 election results into evidence. about Trump’s diminishing influence over the conservative party and movement. However, McConnell has stated that if Trump were the 2024 GOP presidential candidate, he would wholeheartedly support Trump.

So far, both men’s attempts to cut down on the other are coming soon.

On Trump’s side, the former president – who remains the leader of the Republican Party and is the current favorite to win the 2024 presidential nomination, if he looks for it – has worked on the phone in months, calling on senators, GOP Senate hopefuls, and various MAGA figures alike to gauge concern and urge action on preventing the expected coronation for the majority leadership position and “damaged Mitch McConnell,” in the words of one person who received one such phone call.

At this stage, a handful of the main right-wing candidates are visible, such as Eric Greitens in Missouri and Kelly Tshibaka in Alaska, pledged to vote to repeal McConnell if they ended up on Capitol Hill. But according to three people familiar with the matter, Trump’s repeated calls and meetings to find a way to oust McConnell from the leadership position has yielded unimpressive results so far.

“If I’m honest, it won’t be good” one of the sources, who tried to help the former president in his quest for revenge, admitted, noting that there are few Republicans in the Senate and among the many conservative candidates top, go along with this. Many of Trump’s allies and lawmakers have told the former president it would be a bad idea to try to oust McConnell, which would risk fueling further turmoil within the party at a time of this in the Biden era.

It also doesn’t help that Graham, one of the senators on Trump’s favorite leaders shortlist, said he wasn’t even interested in taking the McConnell Minority Leader’s old job. and actually laughed at the idea when asked about Trump’s proposal for his future.

Contacted by phone on Monday, Graham said, “I know [Trump] was not pleased with Senator McConnell, “but claimed that in his conversations with Graham and Trump,” he did not go that route with me. “

When asked if he would like to take on a leadership position, Graham simply replied: “not me” and “no” while clearly hearing voices.

Over the years, however, even at times when it seemed as if Graham was looking to step down as the 45th president of the United States — especially in the immediate aftermath of the January 6 Capitol riots — the senator had customary Find your way back to protect and educate Trump.

“If you want to be the leader of the Republican Party in the House or Senate, you have to have a working relationship with President Donald Trump. He is the most consequential Republican since Ronald Reagan. It’s his nomination if he wants to and I think he’ll be re-elected in 2024,” Graham said last month on the Fox News show hosted by Sean Hannity, another longtime Trump adviser.

The senator then laid out conditions for backing McConnell, should the GOP retake the Senate in the 2022 election: “I like Senator McConnell. He has worked well with President Trump…[but] I will not vote for anyone to lead the Senate as a Republican unless they can prove to me that they can support the ‘America First’ agenda and have a working relationship with President Trump — because if you can’t do that, you’re going to fail.”

As a reward for Graham’s continued loyalty, Trump repeatedly drowned his golf pal in public, including earlier this month when he called Graham “”RINOAfter the Republican congressman gently defected from Trump’s pledge to pardon the rioters on January 6, if he wins the White House again.

But as Trump and his ardent supporters try to push the GOP further down the road to public revolts, within the party, some of the former president’s closest lieutenants and others companion instead of begging for some kind.

“Republicans have a big chance to win this fall — and we should focus on the Democrats,” said former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, an unofficial adviser to Trump and former House Speaker. advise The top House Republicans ahead of the 2022 midterm deadline, spoke briefly to The Daily Beast on Monday, when asked about the Trump-McConnell feud.

A Trump spokesman did not respond to a request for comment for this story. A representative for McConnell declined to comment on Monday. However, in an interview with Judge Washington announced earlier this month, the Senate minority leader appeared to acknowledge the former president’s mandate and the extent of its success.

“Did you find one?” he said, after reporter David Drucker asked if McConnell was concerned about a challenger fueled by Trump’s desire for a full-blown uprising against him.

After Drucker noted no Senate Republicans volunteered, McConnell said, “That’s the answer to your question.”