This week, McConnell held a meeting with Republican colleagues at which he reportedly indicated that Republicans should not agree to a border deal. McConnell previously urged his colleagues to support Biden’s deal but now believes nothing should be done that might undermine Trump.
Shifting situation
“When we started this,” McConnell reportedly told his colleagues in the Senate, “the border united us and Ukraine divided us. The politics on this have changed.”
Looking to the future
McConnell reportedly called Trump “the nominee.” “We don’t want to do anything to undermine him,” he told Republican senators.
Key issue
Immigration is one of the central issues in Trump’s 2024 campaign. He previously urged Republican lawmakers to reject any deal on the border “unless we get EVERYTHING.”
Hardline demands
Trump has promised to be a dictator on “day one” of his presidency to enact a slate of extreme anti-immigration policies. “I will implement strong ideological screening of all immigrants. If you hate America, if you want to abolish Israel, if you don’t like our religion, which a lot of them don’t. If you sympathize with jihadists, then we don’t want you in our country. And you are not getting in,” he said in October.
Massive plans
Trump has also promised to arrest and deport millions of undocumented immigrants. “Unless America allows Trump to become a dictator,” Andy Semotiuk wrote in Forbes this week, “and to throw aside the U.S. Constitution and the rule of law, his plan cannot succeed.”
Changing minds
Biden himself acknowledged that he was willing to make “significant compromises” on immigration in order to pass a funding bill that includes tens of billions for Israel and Ukraine. The proposed deal includes clauses granting border officials the power to deport asylum seekers without hearing their claims and would send an additional $14 billion to border forces.
Unique opportunity
As recently as mid-January, McConnell was reported to have told Senate Republicans that Biden’s border deal represented “a unique opportunity” to pass conservative border policies. “One of the things I keep reminding my members,” McConnell said, “is if we had a 100-percent Republican government — president, House, Senate — we would probably not get a single Democratic vote” for anything as conservative as what is currently being proposed.
Widespread agreement
“The Democrats will not give us anything close to this if we have to get 60 votes in the United States [Senate] in a Republican majority,” echoed Republican Senator John Thune. “We have a unique opportunity here.”
Changing tune
However, Trump’s wins in the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries have made his nomination as the Republican presidential candidate all the more certain. “We’re in a quandary,” McConnell reportedly told his colleagues.
Bending the knee
“Mitch McConnell will always put his power over the country,” former pollster Mathew Sheffield wrote on X. “He and other Republicans have screeched for months about a ‘border crisis’ but now are trying to prolong it. When the chips are down, McConnell will always choose cowardice and capitulation to Trump.”
Manufactured crisis
“Republicans are openly saying they don’t want to address the border issue because Trump wants to run on it,” Democratic strategist Sawyer Hackett posted. “The crisis at the border has been manufactured by Republicans for decades.”
Both sides
“The Republicans DO NOT CARE about America,” wrote former GOP congressman Adam Kinzinger. “They care about power. If you’re a Republican elected and you aren’t speaking out against this travesty, you are complicit.”
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