McConnell Said He Was ‘Exhilarated’ After Jan. 6 ‘Totally Discredited’ Trump: ‘He Put a Gun to His Head and Pulled the Trigger’

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) told a reporter on Jan. 6 that he was “exhilarated” the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol “totally discredited” former President Donald Trump.

Just weeks after making those comments, McConnell said he would support Trump were he to run in 2024.

“I feel exhilarated by the fact that this fellow finally, totally discredited himself,” McConnell told New York Times reporter Jonathan Martin on Jan. 6, as a horde of Trump supporters ransacked the Capitol.

“He put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger,” he said. “Couldn’t have happened at a better time.”

The comments, which reported The Washington Post on Monday, are set to be published in a new book — This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America’s Future — which Martin co-wrote with fellow Times reporter Alexander Burns.

McConnell also condemned Trump publicly after the Jan. 6 riot. In a Senate floor speech in February 2021, McConnell slammed Trump and said he was “practically and morally responsible for provoking the events” of Jan. 6.

Despite the private and public condemnations, at the end of February McConnell said he would “absolutely” support Trump if he were the Republican nominee for president in 2024.

McConnell reiterated this month that he would support Trump in 2024.

“I think I have an obligation to support the nominee of my party,” said McConnell. “That will mean that whoever the nominee is has gone out and earned the nomination.”

This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America’s Future is out May 3.