WASHINGTON — Mitch McConnell may have figured out the smartest response to a tantrum by former President Donald Trump: Ignore it and allow increasing exhaustion with the former president to fester among Republicans who believe unity is imperative for climbing back into the congressional majority.
McConnell and his team are bypassing a chance to hit back at Trump, after a series of attacks in which Trump called the Senate GOP leader “a dumb son of a bitch,” a “stone cold loser,” and “helpless to fight” against what he sees as a Democratic Party drive to change the composition of the U.S. Supreme Court.
After declining reporters’ overtures for a reaction to Trump on Monday, McConnell quickly pivoted away from a query at his weekly news conference Tuesday. “What I’m concerned about,” he replied before transitioning to an attack on President Joe Biden’s policy proposals, “is the future.”
