Trump and McConnell will meet face to face for the first time in almost 4 years

When Donald Trump meets with Republican senators on Thursday in Washington, he will come face to face with Mitch McConnell for the first time in three and a half years.

In fact, the former president and the Senate minority leader have not spoken since December 15, 2020.

That’s the day McConnell gave a speech on the Senate floor congratulating Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on their 2020 election victory.

As I described in my book “Betrayal,” Trump was so enraged by McConnell’s speech that he called his office minutes after the speech ended.

McConnell later told me that Trump yelled at him in an expletive-filled rant, insisting he didn’t lose the election.

When Trump finally stopped shouting, McConnell told him, “Well, the Electoral College is the final word.” »

Trump then hung up – and that was the last time the two men spoke.

Two months later, McConnell voted “not guilty” in Trump’s impeachment trial, but in a speech immediately after the vote, he sharply condemned Trump’s actions during and before the January 6 attack on the US Capitol by a crowd of Trump supporters. – and suggested that the former president be prosecuted.

“Former President Trump’s actions before the riot constituted a shameful dereliction of duty,” McConnell said. “The House charged the former president with, quote, ‘incitement.’ That’s a specific criminal law term.

“Let me put that aside for a moment and reiterate what I said weeks ago: There is no doubt that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of that day.” , he continued.

“The people who stormed this building believed that they were acting on the wishes and instructions of their president. And that belief was a predictable consequence of the growing crescendo of false claims, conspiracy theories and reckless hyperbole that the defeated president kept shouting the biggest megaphone on planet Earth.

Asked Wednesday about his meeting with Trump on Thursday, McConnell said he would support the Republican “candidate.”

“I said three years ago, right after the attack on the Capitol, that I would support our nominee, whoever it was, including him,” McConnell told reporters. “I said earlier this year, I support him. He won the nomination from voters across the country. And of course, I will be at the meeting tomorrow.”