Is Mitch McConnell Ignoring Donald Trump?

Former President Donald Trump seemingly rants almost daily against the people he sees as his enemies. As some may recall, the 45th president put Senator Mitch McConnell on his "naughty list" after McConnell criticized his involvement in the January 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. 

The former president and McConnell once worked together to govern. However, Trump became angry at the senator for his comments about January 6th and because of McConnell's alleged comments in Bob Woodward's book, "Peril." In the book, McConnell said he wasn't surprised that Trump lost the 2020 election. 

In the months since, the former leader of the free world has taunted McConnell frequently, but the Kentucky senator, by and large, seems to ignore Trump. CNN's Chris Cillizza noted that McConnell "has simply acted as though Trump no longer exists — even though there's no debate that the former President remains the most popular and powerful figure within the GOP." But you have to wonder how McConnell can continue to ignore the former president when he's constantly railing against him. In February, Trump called the Kentucky senator an "unsmiling political hack" and suggested throwing McConnell out of office. So what's really going on — and how much longer can McConnell go on like this?

Former President Donald Trump won't let Mitch McConnell ignore him, and the former leader keeps slamming the Kentucky senator. On November 26, Trump called (again) for McConnell to resign during a Fox Business interview. The former wants the Senate Minority Leader to resign because McConnell supported President Joe Biden's $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill. Trump told Fox Business (via MSN), "It's not infrastructure and we had 19 Republicans voting for it. What a shame. But Mitch McConnell gave this. That guy should resign as the leader." CNN reported that Trump has even been trying to find a replacement for McConnell and calling the GOP leader an "old Crow." 

However, even if McConnell seems to be ignoring the constant day-to-day jabs and rants, it seems that he isn't ready to publicly cut ties with Trump altogether. The Washington Post asked the Kentucky senator if he would support Trump if he ran for president in 2024, and McConnell said he would "obviously" back his party's choice. The GOP leader even said it would be "pretty simple" to follow the party's wishes. Why would a veteran politician like McConnell continue to support Trump? As Kentucky's former secretary of state, Trey Grayson, told the Post, "Sometimes leaders lead, and sometimes they have to follow some people that are trying to lead."