In a biography set to release just before the election, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell openly sides with Biden-Harris special counsel Jack Smith and expresses his hope that former President Donald J. Trump will “pay a price” for his alleged role in January 6. McConnell’s statements to journalist Michael Tackett for The Price of Power reflect the 82-year-old’s ongoing antipathy to Trump, despite their shared party affiliation.
McConnell’s endorsement of the lawfare campaign against the America First leader reveals just how deep his bitterness runs. “If he hasn’t committed indictable offenses, I don’t know what one is,” McConnell complains. He insists, “…there’s no doubt who inspired [January 6], and I just hope that he’ll have to pay a price for it.”
The book also reveals that McConnell seriously considered voting to convict Trump during his second impeachment in 2021.
Other excerpts from the book reveal McConnell complaining Trump is “a despicable human being” and that he “started to sob softly” as he addressed staffers following January 6.
Despite his public statements and private criticisms, McConnell endorsed Trump for president in March 2024, stating passive-aggressively that “Whatever I may have said about President Trump pales in comparison to what J.D. Vance, Lindsey Graham, and others have said about him, but we are all on the same team now.”
