Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has said he is confident he will become the chamber’s longest-serving party leader despite blistering attacks by former President Donald Trump.
“I have the votes,” McConnell (R-Ky.) told CNN Tuesday.
The 80-year-old has been the top Senate Republican since 2007. If McConnell is elected to another two-year term as conference leader early next year, his tenure would surpass that of Montana Democrat Mike Mansfield, who led his party in the Senate from 1961 to 1977 — serving as majority leader the entire time.
However, McConnell declined to say Tuesday whether he would try to stay on as GOP leader through the remainder of his current Senate term, which ends in 2027.
“I’m not going to go there,” he said. “I’m confident I’ll be re-elected to another two-year term.”
However, McConnell also vowed not to cut his Senate term short, even if he chooses to step down from leadership.
“Oh, I’m certainly going to complete the term I was elected to by the people of Kentucky, no question about that,” said McConnell, who has held his seat since 1985.
McConnell’s seemingly secure position as the most powerful Republican in Washington defies the ire of Trump, who raged on Truth Social earlier this month that the Kentuckian has a “DEATH WISH” and was “willing to take the Country down with him.” The 45th president also referred to McConnell’s wife, Trump’s former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, as “Coco Chow,” a remark seen by many as racist.
McConnell declined to be drawn out on Trump’s attacks Tuesday.
“The only time I’ve responded to the president, I think, since he left office is when he gave me my favorite nickname – Old Crow – which I considered a compliment,” the senator said. “And after all, it was Henry Clay’s favorite bourbon.”