Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said it’s “sad” that Senate Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has endorsed former President Donald Trump for the 2024 GOP nomination.
The California Democrat and Mr. McConnell had worked together for many years, and she acknowledged that they didn’t always see eye-to-eye on issues. But, she said the Kentucky Republican “knows full well” that Mr. Trump was “guilty of a crime” on Jan. 6, 2021, the attack on the Capitol.
“For him to know how bad [Mr. Trump] was on all of this, and then come to the conclusion that he would endorse him, … it’s really very, very sad,” Mrs. Pelosi said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Friday.
“Again, mostly we didn’t agree, but I was respectful of the view that he brought forth and how we could work together,” she added. “It’s really, in my view, a sad professional tragedy that [Mr. McConnell had to come around.”
After staying quiet and never mentioning Mr. Trump’s name, Mr. McConnell endorsed the presumptive GOP nominee earlier this week.
In a statement, the senator reiterated his promise of supporting the GOP nominee, whoever it wound up being, and that it was clear after Super Tuesday that Mr. Trump was going to win.
“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,” Mr. McConnell said.
The two haven’t had the easiest relationship, and Mr. McConnell has worked for years to get the former president out of the Republican Party.
Even while opposing a second Democratic-led push to impeach him in 2021, Mr. McConnell said on the Senate floor that Mr. Trump was “practically and morally responsible for provoking the events” of Jan. 6.
“Former President Trump’s actions that preceded the riot were a disgraceful, disgraceful dereliction of duty,” he said at the time.
Despite their differences, the duo did work together during Mr. Trump four-year term to reshape of the Supreme Court, installing a conservative majority of justices.
“During his presidency, we worked together to accomplish great things for the American people, including tax reform that supercharged our economy and a generational change of our federal judiciary,” Mr. McConnell said in his endorsement statement.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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