Reports: People around McConnell and Trump working to restore relationship

If you’ve spent the last three years and seven weeks living under a rock, you might think former president and current GOP front-runner Donald Trump and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, are on the same page as the 2024 presidential campaign heats up.

You would be wrong — the two sides have had an icy relationship since Jan. 6, 2021, when Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s win in the 2020 election.

But recent reports indicate people around McConnell and Trump are working to make amends as the former president gets closer to landing the Republican nomination.

A Monday story from the New York Times confirmed by NBC News said advisors to McConnell, who broke with the former president in the aftermath of the insurrection attempt and has worked to avoid talking about him during Biden’s term, have been privately working with members of Trump’s team in an attempt to smooth the relationship between the two.

Members of McConnell’s press team did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday morning.

McConnell publicly broke from Trump in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 riot, calling the former president “morally responsible” for what took place that day in a speech on the Senate floor. He did not, however, vote in favor of his impeachment, saying at the time that Trump could be held liable in court but arguing impeachment could only be used as a tool for removal from office.

While many Republicans who criticized the former president following the insurrection attempt have since rekindled a relationship with Trump as he seeks the 2024 nomination — he scored an overwhelming win Saturday in the South Carolina primary over Nikki Haley, his lone remaining GOP opponent — McConnell has not publicly made amends, though he's said he plans to support the eventual Republican nominee.

Asked about the relationship last week by Fox News host Laura Ingraham, Trump said McConnell, who has stayed out of the primary, will "probably end up endorsing me" in the presidential race.

"I don’t know that I can work with him,” he added.

McConnell doesn't need Trump's endorsement this fall. He won reelection in 2020 and would not appear on the ballot until 2026 if he plans to run again — McConnell has not spoken about his plans but would be 84 on Election Day and had two episodes last year in which he was temporarily unable to speak while interacting with reporters.

Trump, meanwhile, has gotten this far without an endorsement from McConnell. The senator was found to have a 6% approval rating among American adults in a December 2023 poll from Monmouth University, the lowest overall rating among all politicians included.

A U.S. Department of Justice release last month said more than 1,265 individuals have been charged over the Jan. 6, 2021 riot, with 749 having been sentenced.

This story may be updated.

Reach Lucas Aulbach at laulbach@courier-journal.com.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Mitch McConnell, Donald Trump work to rebuild relationship, reports say