Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he missed President Donald Trump’s speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Sunday.
“I didn’t watch it,” said McConnell, who previously said he would support Trump if he were the 2024 Republican nominee.
Asked if he still felt that way, the leader said he was “looking forward,” not “backward.”
Despite voting against convicting Trump in the recent Senate impeachment trial, McConnell earned the former president’s wrath by saying the chief executive was “practically and morally responsible” for the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
The Senate’s GOP leader reiterated his preference to look ahead during a Wednesday interview on Fox News.
“I think the actions of the new Democratic administration are unifying the Republican Party,” McConnell said. “We’ve had some eternal back-and-forth that’s been widely covered, but nothing has unified the Republican Party in both the House and the Senate faster than reacting to this new left-wing administration.
“We’re looking forward. We’re not going to look backward. We’re looking forward to dealing with the problems America has today, not the problems it had yesterday.”
During his CPAC speech, Trump again claimed he really won the 2020 election, and slammed the Supreme Court for declining to act on election-related lawsuits.
Shown video of Trump’s remarks, McConnell said he would not have followed the same course of action.
“The Supreme Court is the most respected institution in the country with the possible exception of the military,” he said. “When they speak, it’s the last word, and it’s been my practice over the years not to attack the Supreme Court for decisions that I don’t like.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, one of seven Republican senators to vote to convict Trump, is up for reelection in 2022.
Although Trump targeted the seven senators for being voted out of the Senate, McConnell said Murkowski had his support.
“Yeah, absolutely, we support Sen. Murkowski,” McConnell said. “We support all of our Republican incumbents. She’s in very strong shape in her home state of Alaska. There’s nobody [who’s] gonna come close to beating Lisa Murkowski when she runs for reelection next year.”
Source: Newmax
