‘Why Are You Holding Out?’: Mitch McConnell Grilled by Reporter After Refusing to Endorse Trump

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was asked by a reporter on Tuesday why he was “holding out” on endorsing former President Donald Trump, the “likely nominee,” for president.

During a press conference, a reporter asked McConnell, “Over the weekend, Senator [John] Thune came out and he endorsed Trump. The other lieutenants have endorsed Trump. Why are you holding out in endorsing the likely nominee?”

McConnell replied, “I don’t have any announcement about that today,” before quickly moving on to the next question.

On Monday, unnamed sources “familiar with the situation” told The Hill that Trump’s campaign had been in discussion with McConnell’s team about a potential endorsement.

Trump himself also hinted at a McConnell endorsement this month, claiming that he had heard “McConnell wants to endorse me.”

“That’s what I hear,” said Trump. “I don’t know if he’s going to endorse me, I just heard he wants to endorse me.”

McConnell – who begrudgingly endorsed Trump as the Republican Party’s “presumptive nominee” in 2016 – said in 2022 that it would be his “obligation” to support Trump in 2024 if he became the nominee again, despite calling Trump “morally responsible” for the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riots.

After McConnell accused Trump of being responsible for the riots, Trump called the senator a “dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack” and threatened to support one of McConnell’s Senate primary rivals.

Trump has repeatedly attacked McConnell’s wife Elaine Chao – who served in Trump’s White House as Secretary of Transportation – referring to her as “Coco Chow.”

Chao described the nickname as a “racist taunt,” and in December, McConnell responded to Trump’s claim that illegal immigrants were “poisoning the blood” of the country by saying, “Well it strikes me that didn’t bother him when he appointed Elaine Chao Secretary of Transportation.”