File photo taken on Feb. 28, 2024 shows Mitch McConnell outside the Senate Chamber of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., the United States. Mitch McConnell, the outgoing Republican leader in the Senate, said on March 6 that he will support former President Donald Trump for the presidency, following years of strained relations, which worsened after Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot. (Photo by Aaron Schwartz/Xinhua)
WASHINGTON, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Mitch McConnell, the outgoing Republican leader in the Senate, said on Wednesday that he will support former President Donald Trump for the presidency, following years of strained relations, which worsened after Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot.
"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," McConnell said in a statement. "It should come as no surprise that as nominee, he will have my support."
McConnell's statement came shortly after Nikki Haley, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and the only challenger to Trump in the Republican presidential primary, announced that she will drop out of the race, after suffering a sweeping loss to Trump on Super Tuesday.
McConnell, 82, has served as GOP leader since 2007. The longest-serving leader in the Senate history announced last week that he will step down from the position at the end of the year.
McConnell is seen by fellow lawmakers as a skilled strategist in politics and one of the most powerful figures in Washington. Collaborating with then-President Trump, McConnell played a pivotal role in passing a comprehensive 1.5 trillion tax cut bill in 2017.
However, McConnell's once significant sway over the Senate GOP has waned in the past year as the party increasingly aligns itself with Trump, who maintains a notably frosty relationship with the Republican leader. The rift between Trump and McConnell was exacerbated by the events of Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
"It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him. And I hope he does that," Haley, who refrained from endorsing Trump, said in brief remarks in Charleston, South Carolina, adding that the conservative cause "badly needs more people."
John Thune, the second-ranking Republican in the Senate who is vying to succeed McConnell, has recently expressed his support for Trump. Texas Senator John Cornyn, also seen as a potential successor to McConnell, endorsed Trump following his victory in the New Hampshire primary in late January. ■
File photo taken on Feb. 28, 2024 shows Mitch McConnell (Front) outside the Senate Chamber of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., the United States. Mitch McConnell, the outgoing Republican leader in the Senate, said on March 6 that he will support former President Donald Trump for the presidency, following years of strained relations, which worsened after Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot. (Photo by Aaron Schwartz/Xinhua)
File photo taken on Feb. 28, 2024 shows Mitch McConnell (2nd L) outside the Senate Chamber of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., the United States. Mitch McConnell, the outgoing Republican leader in the Senate, said on March 6 that he will support former President Donald Trump for the presidency, following years of strained relations, which worsened after Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot. (Photo by Aaron Schwartz/Xinhua)