Why Trump should thank Mitch McConnell on Inauguration Day
On Jan. 20, President Donald J. Trump will swear to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
Half the voters (49.7 percent) will celebrate Trump's declaration that America “will experience a golden age.” The other half (48.4 percent) are aghast, fearing his erratic governing style and a break-all-the-rules presidency. Most recognize the devastating irony of President Trump again swearing to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution,” given the events of Jan. 6, 2021.
Although Inauguration Day cheers may successfully “nullify” Trump’s impeachment for “Incitement of Insurrection,” American history will not. Furthermore, the Jan. 25, 2021, House of Representatives impeachment resolution also stated that “section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution prohibits any person who has ‘engaged in insurrection or rebellion against’ the United States from ‘hold[ing] any office … under the United States.’” That “discarded” prohibition recently emerged as a hot-button issue, since rejected by the Supreme Court in March 2024.
Nevertheless, recall the evening of Jan. 6, when then-Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) proclaimed the Capitol attack a “failed insurrection” as he addressed a reconvened joint session of Congress. Yet, four years later, McConnell will likely attend the president's inauguration who triggered that “insurrection.”
Although McConnell’s contentious relationship with Trump is well documented, in this speech, if Trump were humble, he would thank McConnell, who recently stepped down as the longest-serving Senate leader. After all, McConnell helped orchestrate an unprecedented series of years-long events culminating in Trump’s latest electoral triumph with Republicans controlling the House, Senate and a friendly, conservative majority Supreme Court.
McConnell dramatically helped save Trump from two Senate impeachment trial convictions. However, it was Trump’s second trial on Feb. 13, 2021, when he was charged with “incitement of insurrection,” which presented McConnell with a more constitutionally torturous, history-altering decision.
Consequently, McConnell “did not rule out” voting for Trump’s conviction, but, always the political strategist, he chose party over country. McConnell eyed retaking the Senate in 2022, surmising a Trump conviction would hurt the effort since the GOP base was pro-Trump — essentially believing that the 2020 election had been stolen. McConnell also feared Trump would become a martyr.
Ultimately, McConnell rejected siding with the new Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who said, “If the president is convicted, there will be a vote on barring him from running again.” While some Republican senators found that premise appealing, the majority followed McConnell’s “not guilty” vote, with only seven brave ones voting to convict the former president.
Minutes after Trump’s acquittal, McConnell began a floor speech that sounded like he had voted to convict. Tormented by his constitutionally defying decision, McConnell tap-danced around why a conviction was unconstitutional since Trump was now out of office. Yet, McConnell orchestrated the delay while he was the majority leader.
His speech became an echo chamber of legal irony due to the outcomes and events for which he was directly responsible, that legally and politically benefited Trump. McConnell said, “President Trump is still liable for everything he did while he was in office, as an ordinary citizen, unless the statute of limitations has run, …[he] didn't get away with anything yet — yet. We have a criminal justice system in this country. We have civil litigation. And former presidents are not immune from being held accountable by either one.”
On the cusp of Trump’s inauguration, that paragraph deserves historical attention, illustrating a judicial meltdown that utterly failed the American people with a system built on impartial justice where “no man is above the law.”
Largely to blame is Attorney General Merrick Garland, who botched and delayed bringing Trump to justice for the Jan. 6, 2021, attack and related criminal schemes. Not until Aug. 1, 2023, did Garland’s DOJ announce a four-count indictment against the former president. However, McConnell was 100 percent responsible for why Judge Merrick Garland, from the United States Court of Appeals in D.C., was available to serve as Biden’s attorney general.
The legal drama began in March 2016, when President Obama nominated Judge Garland to the Supreme Court after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Boldy and prophetically, then-Senate Majority Leader McConnell blocked Garland from a Senate confirmation vote since he wanted the winner of the 2016 presidential election to replace Scalia. McConnell got his wish when Trump nominated conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch on Jan. 31, 2017, and confirmed in April.
In a June 2021 interview, McConnell called his 2016 decision to deny Garland even a Senate hearing “the single most consequential thing I’ve done in my time as majority leader of the Senate.”
Five years later and pleasing to pro-Trump voters, Attorney General Garland’s delay in pursuing charges allowed the former president to avoid McConnell’s Jan. 6 speech predictions. Trump did “get away with” and was never “held accountable” in a court trial for trying to overturn the 2020 election that prompted Capitol violence.
A CNN poll from February 2024 found that voters favored a Trump Jan. 6 verdict before the 2024 election, which could have impacted the election results. Even President Biden recently acknowledged that he regrets appointing Garland for his slow prosecution of Trump.
In addition to how the Garland saga benefited Trump, McConnell’s role was critical in confirming two more conservative Supreme Court justices. Then, fulfilling a Trump campaign promise, the conservative 6-3 majority in the June 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ruling ended the constitutional right to an abortion, allowing states to make their own policies.
McConnell's Supreme Court’s conservative justices also voted for a presidency-changing landmark decision. On July 1, 2024, they “ruled Presidents and former presidents have broad immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts they took while in office.” That ruling froze Trump’s federal indictments on which Garland could have acted sooner.
Ironically, as Trump takes office, he will likely trample over a frail, weakened McConnell, who helped position Trump’s presidency and shape the conservative Supreme Court majority, so critical to his legal and political triumphs. However, it is doubtful that Trump will ever acknowledge or thank him.
Myra Adams is an opinion writer who served on the creative team of two Republican presidential campaigns in 2004 and 2008.
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