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The wing’s fight has been simmering since the election failure in November 2020. But now an open power dispute has erupted in the ranks of the American Republicans: On Tuesday, former President Donald Trump attacked the Republican leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, and suggested its removal.
“If the Republican senators support him, they will never win again,” Trump said in a written statement. He also described the politician as a “sullen and taciturn political bungler who never smiles.” But that was not the end of the personal attacks, Trump added: “This is a great moment for our country and we cannot let it pass by letting third-class ‘leaders’ determine our future.”
As drastic as this may sound: According to the New York Times, Trump originally wanted to be even clearer. The newspaper also reports that the statement was published as a replacement for an originally planned press conference. Apparently, there was concern surrounding the former president that he might fall out of place at the event.
Trump and McConnell are considered the most powerful people in the Conservative Party. In four years of the Trump administration, McConnell had pushed numerous bills as a Senate Majority Leader. However, as a result of the electoral defeat, the alliance broke down.
After Trump’s acquittal in the second impeachment process, McConnell had massively criticized him publicly, even if he had previously played a decisive role in his firing. Among other things, he spoke of the former president’s “unscrupulous behavior” in connection with the assault on the United States Capitol on January 6.
Now it is a new leadership within the party. McConnell represents the comparatively moderate wing. However, a large part of the party tends toward the populist course, and thus remains loyal to Trump.
The influence of the 45th president remains great
In his statement Tuesday, Trump threatened to back opponents of his party’s critics in the Republican primary. With this influence, Trump tries to maintain control over the party and punish politicians whom he accuses of a lack of loyalty. In the impeachment process, only seven of the 50 Republican senators had voted against Trump.
Trump clearly lost the November 3 presidential election to Democrat Joe Biden. But for weeks he prepared not to be ousted from office on unfounded accusations of fraud, plunging the country into a deep political crisis. His term ended on January 20 when Biden took office.
Trump now lives at his luxurious Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. He has toured in the past with a renewed presidential candidacy in 2024. A possible conviction in the Senate could have resulted in the office being banned and thus also deprived of the ability to run again.
