“Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell never said the words ‘Donald Trump’ in announcing his decision Wednesday to step down as GOP leader following the November elections,” Punchbowl News reports.
“But it was clear that the former president’s influence on his party — and inside the Senate GOP Conference — was top-of-mind for the 82-year-old Kentucky Republican.”
Said McConnell: “Believe me, I know the politics within my party at this particular moment in time. I have many faults — misunderstanding politics is not one of them.”
“The big question now is what role Trump will have in picking the next GOP leader. Trump is the wild card here, the unpredictable element that could tilt the decision one way or the other. That’s the case with pretty much anything in the Republican Party these days.”
