Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is not pleased with Donald Trump’s recent comments, and that may affect his support of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.
In an interview with Bloomberg published Friday, the Kentucky Republican said he could rescind his support of Trump should he continue to make inflammatory comments, like calling Indiana-born Judge Gonzalo Curiel a “Mexican.”
“I’m not going to speculate about what he might say, or what I might do,” McConnell told Bloomberg’s “Masters in Politics” podcast. “But I think it’s pretty clear and I’ve been pretty clear publicly about how I think he ought to change direction and I hope that’s what we are going to see.”
McConnell is in the middle of a press tour for his latest book The Long Game, and was quite frank when talking about Trump and who he should pick as his vice presidential running mate, as well as other things.
“He needs someone highly experienced and very knowledgeable because it’s pretty obvious he doesn’t know a lot about the issues,” McConnell said. “You see that in the debates in which he’s participated. It’s why I have argued to him publicly and privately that he ought to use a script more often — there is nothing wrong with having prepared texts.”
But, he will stick behind Trump for the time being, McConnell reiterated.
“For all of his obvious shortcomings, Donald Trump is certainly a different direction, and I think if he is in the White House he’ll have to respond to the right-of-center world which elected him, and the things that we believe in. So I’m comfortable supporting him,” McConnell said.
Listen to the full interview here.
