McConnell: Trump 'not going to change' GOPBy NICK GASS 05/31/16 07:41 AM EDT
Donald Trump will not change the Republican Party, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in an interview aired Tuesday.
"We've had nominees before who were not deeply into Republican politics and philosophy," the Kentucky Republican told radio host Hugh Hewitt, referring then to Dwight Eisenhower. "But Trump is not going to change the institution, he's not going to change the basic philosophy of the party. And I'm comfortable voting for him because on the big things that I think have the greatest impact on the future of the country. At the top of the list is Supreme Court. I think he'll be just fine."
Efforts by Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol to recruit a third-party candidate would "only help Hillary Clinton," McConnell said later on "Fox & Friends."
"That can only help Hillary Clinton. The last thing the country needs is four more years like the last eight. I don't think it's good idea to do anything that helps us elect Hillary Clinton," he said.
And count McConnell as one who does not appreciate Congress being held out as an example of Washington's inefficiency and sloth. To hear him tell it now, "There's no longer any dysfunction in the Senate."
“One of my great frustrations, Hugh, is all of the presidential candidates out there beating up Congress," the Kentucky Republican told Hewitt. "You’d think we aren’t doing anything."
McConnell continued, remarking that the Senate was not "doing anything" under then-Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).
"They hadn’t passed a budget for the five previous years. What I said was, if the American people gave us a new majority, we’d open the Senate up, get it back to work," McConnell said. "There’s no longer any dysfunction in the Senate. And you know, what are the American people saying when they elect a divided government? I think they’re saying we know you have some big differences, and boy, do we, with Obama.”
McConnell has been on a media blitz of late promoting his book "The Long Game," explaining his title by remarking that he is "a little skeptical of overnight sensations who have simple answers to complicated problems."
He was talking about President Barack Obama, he quickly clarified.
"I’ve taken a different path from what seems to be fashionable in the era of Obama — you know, Obama a one-term senator and all of a sudden, he’s president of the United States. I think life for most of us is a long game," he said
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