Trump emails GOP lawmakers a slide slamming Mitch McConnell, taking credit for his re-election

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last updated 22 December 2020

President Trump's personal assistant, Molly Michael, "at the president's request" emailed Republican lawmakers a slide Monday night giving Trump credit for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) re-election victory in November, citing a Trump tweet and robocall. "Sadly, Mitch forgot. He was the first one off the ship!" the slide says, an apparent reference to McConnell acknowledging Joe Biden as president-elect after his victory in the Electoral College — and after much of McConnell's caucus had already publicly noted Biden's win.

"It's an extraordinary broadside against McConnell by the sitting president and most popular Republican in the party, ahead of a crucial runoff election in Georgia on Jan. 5 that will determine control of the Senate," Jonathan Swan writes at Axios. "While both the message and its delivery targeted McConnell, they also carried a subtle warning to other Republicans who may follow suit as the president grasps at the last straws of his election-fraud claim."

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"National Republicans are desperate to avoid a floor fight in Congress over the certification of the Electoral College vote next month, believing it would be horrible politics to continue waging what most recognize to be a hopeless battle to overturn the outcome of the election," The Hill reports. McConnell has asked his caucus not to join any of the House Republicans objecting to Biden's victory Jan. 6. At least one senator and one House member must object for the motion to be considered.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.