McConnell endorses Trump for president. He once blamed Trump for ‘disgraceful’ Jan. 6, 2021, attack

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell endorsed Donald Trump for president on Wednesday, a remarkable turnaround from the onetime critic who blamed the then-president for “disgraceful” acts in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack but now supports his bid to return to the White House.

McConnell, who was the last top GOP leader in Congress to fall in line with Trump, declared his support in a short statement after Super Tuesday wins pushed the GOP front-runner closer to the party nomination.

The two men had not spoken since 2020 when McConnell declared Democrat Joe Biden the winner of the that year’s presidential election. But more recently, their teams had reopened talks about an endorsement.

What to know today about Super Tuesday elections

• Nikki Haley, Trump’s major GOP challenger, will suspend her campaign after being soundly defeated across the country.
• Not-so-Super Tuesday? What the primary elections can tell us about November.
• The Associated Press is the most trusted source of information for elections. See the results for elections across the U.S. here.

“It is abundantly clear that former President Trump has earned the requisite support of Republican voters to be our nominee for President of the United States,” McConnell said in the statement.

McConnell said, “It should come as no surprise that as nominee, he will have my support.”

The nod from McConnell, who has criticized Trump as “morally responsible” for the 2021 mob siege of the Capitol, lends an imprimatur of institutional legitimacy to the indicted former president’s bid to return to the White House.

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