The leader of the Republicans in the Senate of USA, Mitch McConnell82, announced this Wednesday that he will leave his position after the November elections.
McConnell has been leader of the Republicans in the Senate since 2007 and is the legislator who has led the conservatives of that chamber for the longest time in the history of the country.
He was minority leader between 2007 and 2015, then in an influential majority until 2021, and since then he has been the minority leader again.
«One of the most underrated talents in life is knowing when it is time to move on to the next chapter of life. “So today I stand before you to tell you that this will be my last term as Senate Republican leader.”announced before the Upper House.
McConnell does not have a good relationship with the former president of the United States (2017-2021) and presumed Republican candidate for the White House, Donald Trumpand was increasingly questioned within his party.
Trump
«Believe me, I know the politics within my party at this particular time. “I have many defects, but misunderstanding politics is not one of them.”he assured.
More than half of the Republican parliamentary group in the Senate has already shown their support for Trump in the party primaries, but McConnell has not been one of them.
In fact, in his speech, McConnell did not mention Trump even once, even though it was precisely in that period between 2017 and 2021 with the magnate in the White House when he had the most power as leader of the Senate.
In those years, McConnell was key to forging the conservative supermajority in the Supreme Court of EUa legacy that will last for decades and that in 2022 served to repeal the right to abortion.
He did have words of affection for the former president Ronald Reagan (1981-1989), with whom he began his political career and with whose ideological current he continues to feel identified today, being one of the known “hawks” of Washington.
Reagan
«When I arrived here I was happy if someone remembered my name. President Reagan called me Mitch O’Donall. Close, I thought. My wife Elaine and I were married on President Reagan’s birthday, February 6th. “It’s probably not the most romantic thing to admit, but Reagan means a lot to both of us.”said.
The veteran Republican politician, in the Senate since 1985, will step down as leader but will continue as senator at least until 2027, when his current term as a Kentucky legislator expires.
«I’m not going anywhere (…) I still have enough gas in the tank to disappoint my critics and I intend to do so with the same enthusiasm to which they are accustomed»said.
His resignation comes after a year in which he has made headlines for his health problems: he was hospitalized in March with a brain concussion and was subsequently paralyzed at several press conferences.
With his resignation, a fight for succession in the Republican leadership opens among McConnell’s loyalists, including the current number 2, John Thunethe current number 3, John Barrassoor former number 2 John Cornyn.
Although these are in principle the favorites, the November elections – which in addition to being presidential are legislative – will mark the new composition of the Senate and whether the faction less aligned with the McConnell apparatus and close to Trump has the numbers to try to take the position . EFE (I)
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