Former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) expressed no small degree of contempt for Vice President JD Vance in an interview posted by Politico on Friday as he explained how he has finally found a way to get Donald Trump's ear.
In an interview with Politico's Jonathan Martin, McConnell, who is not running for re-election, applauded the president for his attack on Iran and hoped that he will also take a more active role in helping Ukraine oppose the Russians.
As he explained, he has been in a battle with the GOP's international isolationist wing –– which includes Vance –– and feels that has made gains with Trump with his speeches on the Senate floor.
"McConnell’s hope is that after the success Israel and the U.S. have jointly had over the skies of Iran, he can be something of an evangelist to convert Trump to the peace-through-strength gospel of interventionism that the octogenarian lawmaker has prioritized in the final Congress of his four-decade Senate career," Martin wrote.
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According to Kentucky Republican, "Most of [Trump’s] advisers don’t agree with what I’m saying," and now that he has stepped down from his leadership role he has “the freedom to do it that I would not have had if I had still been leader.”
As for Vance, McConnell told Martin, "He’s got some pretty rabid isolationists over at DoD — you could argue the vice president is in that group,” before dismissing Vance and the others with, "None of those people who’ve read history.'
As for how he is getting around Vance to Trump, he stated, "I’m delivering it publicly. I don’t think whispering in somebody’s ear is what ought to be done right now. I think you need to build support. The way you do that is publicly.”
You can read more here.
