[guest post by Dana]
In a cynical and ultimately a self-serving move, Mitch McConnell prioritizes “nominee” Trump over border security:
In a private Senate Republican meeting on Ukraine, McConnell said effectively that time and the political will to pass a bipartisan immigration and border security compromise are quickly running out — and may have actually run out already.
McConnell told GOP senators that before border security talks began, immigration policy united Republicans and Ukraine aid divided them. “Politics on this have changed,” McConnell said of solving the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border. That’s because former President Donald Trump wants to run his 2024 campaign focusing on immigration.
“We don’t want to do anything to undermine him,” McConnell said of Trump, a one-time collaborator turned nemesis.
This is a big about-face for McConnell, who earlier this week said Congress needs to pass the border security bill and unlock billions of dollars in new Ukraine aid.
On the floor Wednesday, McConnell asserted that supporting Ukraine was a matter of “cold hard American interest.” But the Kentucky Republican made his own cold political calculation later in the day that the scheme he had been relentlessly pushing for weeks was in jeopardy and a new approach was needed.
The report notes that McConnell referred to Trump as the “nominee” during the meeting.
If the report is accurate, one must assume from McConnell’s prioritizing of Donald Trump over border security, that the crisis at the border isn’t really that big of a deal if it’s more important to delay support of a bipartisan border security measure so that Trump can run on the issue (and blame President Biden). Win-win for the man who would be king! But how does waiting a year actually help American border cities and towns that are struggling today?
Spot-on responses to the news:
If you had any doubts about the head of the Republican Party, doubt no more.
P.S. Perhaps Mitch was aware of this:
The Republican National Committee (RNC) is reviewing a draft resolution that, if approved, would declare Donald Trump the party’s presumptive 2024 presidential nominee even as Nikki Haley continues to wage a vigorous campaign against the former president and frontrunner.
The draft resolution…follows RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel saying after the former president defeated Haley in Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary that it was time for Republicans to unite behind the frontrunner and focus on defeating President Joe Biden.
“RESOLVED that the Republican National Committee hereby declares President Trump as our presumptive 2024 nominee for the office of President of the United States and from this moment forward moves into full general election mode welcoming supporters of all candidates as valued members of Team Trump 2024,” reads a key portion of the draft resolution.
–Dana
