As candidates refuse to disavow McConnell, Trump comes to terms with his grip on GOP
CNN
Donald Trump is facing weak support among Republicans for his calls to depose Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and aides and allies say it's forcing the former President to confront new limitations on his influence over the party.
In the 11 months that have passed since Trump first called for the Kentucky Republican to be ousted -- suggesting shortly after his second Senate impeachment trial ended that it was time for the "unsmiling political hack" to be voted out of office -- McConnell's authority among Senate Republicans has neither waned nor has he faced the onslaught of blistering attacks from GOP hopefuls that Trump has been pining for.
Most candidates who have nabbed Trump's endorsement have refused to declare war on McConnell, who remains a powerful fundraiser and influential party figure in his own right, while those who are still angling for the former President's support have also stopped short of staking out opposition to the powerful senator from Kentucky. Trump's ineffective attempt, thus far, to challenge the top Senate Republican has forced him to temper his criteria as he aims to be a kingmaker in this year's midterm elections, according to multiple people close to the former President who spoke to CNN on the condition of anonymity.
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