Trump campaign ignores Mitch McConnell stepping down

Former President Donald Trump remained silent roughly three hours after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell‘s (R-KY) surprise announcement on Wednesday he was stepping down from his position in November.

“This will be my last term as Republican leader in the Senate,” McConnell said during a floor speech. “It’s time for the next generation of leadership.” 

Despite McConnell’s record tenure as the top Republican in the upper chamber, Trump’s campaign has not publicly commented on the announcement.

The campaign did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment. Trump has not posted a statement on Truth Social about McConnell. Neither has Karoline Leavitt, the national press secretary for Trump’s campaign. Steven Cheung, a combative Trump spokesman on social media, did not comment on social media about McConnell.

Trump’s campaign sent two different emails after McConnell’s news was announced that ignored his retirement. The first email touted the more than 50 other Missouri leaders who are endorsing Trump for president.

The second email touted Trump’s efforts to secure the southern border ahead of his dueling visit on Thursday with President Joe Biden.

Trump and McConnell have had a tenuous relationship over the years since Trump ran for president in 2016. One of the most notable splits between the two lawmakers came after the November 2020 election and the subsequent Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

The former president was incensed by McConnell’s acknowledgment that Joe Biden had won the election.

McConnell reportedly has not spoken with Trump since December 2020, and the Senate minority leader would implicate Trump as responsible for the Capitol riot in January.

During the 2022 midterm elections, McConnell blamed Trump’s interference among GOP candidates for costing the party key Senate races and its inability to retake the Senate from Democrats. Trump responded by encouraging Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) to run against McConnell as head of the Senate GOP. The challenge was a failure, and McConnell was soundly elected.

McConnell remains one of the last GOP Senate leaders who have not endorsed Trump’s reelection, though reports show intercessors are working on the endorsement.

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But Trump has continued to mold the GOP in his image after scuttling a $118 billion bipartisan Senate border deal that McConnell had tapped Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) to help negotiate.

With McConnell soon to leave, a second Trump presidency could find little resistance in Congress.