Top US Senate Republican McConnell endorses Trump after years of hostility
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U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) listens to a question from a reporter following a meeting at the White House and the Senate Republicans weekly policy lunch at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., February 27, 2024. REUTERS/Elizabeth Fr
By Makini Brice
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Top U.S. Senate Republican Mitch McConnell on Wednesday endorsed Donald Trump's run for president after years of icy relations between the two men.
"It is abundantly clear that former President Trump has earned the requisite support of Republican voters to be our nominee for President of the United States. It should come as no surprise that as nominee, he will have my support," McConnell said in a statement.
That came the week after McConnell said he would step down as the party's leader in the Democratic-controlled Senate at the end of the year.
McConnell's endorsement was first reported by the Washington Post.
McConnell and Trump had worked closely together on a tax overhaul and on judicial nominations during Trump's presidency in 2017-2021, including those for three Supreme Court justices that tilted the balance of power on the court toward conservatives for a generation.
But the relationship between the pair had been frosty since the 2020 election. McConnell publicly acknowledged that Democrat Joe Biden had won the presidential race, a fact that Trump has continued to deny.
McConnell also criticized Trump for the role he played on Jan. 6, 2021, when hundreds of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol to try to stop the certification of Biden's victory following a fiery speech by Trump. McConnell did, however, vote to acquit Trump in his impeachment trial stemming from that attack.
In the years since Trump left office, Trump has repeatedly attacked McConnell and his wife, Elaine Chao, who was transportation secretary in Trump's administration, in social media posts.
(Reporting by Paul Grant, Makini Brice and David Morgan; editing by Rami Ayyub)
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