Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senator Tom Cotton conspired to keep Republican senators from backing President Donald Trump's effort to overturn the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, a new book claims.
Cotton's conservative credentials, McConnell felt, would make him a helpful partner in persuading the GOP not to go along with Trump's plan to prevent certification of the results.
The story is told in writer David Drucker's book, 'In Trump's Shadow: The Battle for 2024 and the GOP's Future,' which will be released by Twelve next week.
McConnell, Cotton barred plan to overturn 2020 election results
Cotton, who courted Trump personally and stayed close to him politically until the end, was never convinced by the president's claim that Congress could nullify an election result, which is good news for a Republican who has been mentioned as a prospective 2020 candidate.
McConnell had already proclaimed Biden the winner after letting Trump's legal appeals take their course, as per Daily Mail. Cotton, an Arkansas senator, decided to be silent ahead of Congress' certification on January 6, fearing that infighting would jeopardize important Senate runoff elections in Georgia.
However, the plan was thrown into disarray when Senator Josh Hawley, a Trump-like young senator, openly stated that he would oppose certification. Senator Ted Cruz was the next to speak, and ten other senators joined him.
McConnell felt it was time to act after Trump promised to back anyone who challenged Senator John Thune, who stated he would not try to stop Biden's victory. Cotton's intention to write an op-ed in an Arkansas newspaper on January 6 was pushed back three days.
Senators were also affected by the violence on January 6, when a crowd of Trump supporters invaded the US Capitol in an attempt to prevent the results from being certified. Only six people voted to overturn Biden's victory in Arizona, while seven voted to overturn Biden's win in Pennsylvania.
At a rally in Iowa on Saturday night, Trump slammed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, saying the lawmaker lacked "courage" to dispute the 2020 election results, Business Insider reported.
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Trump lashes at McConnell in Iowa rally
At a campaign-style event, Trump delivered the remarks at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, Iowa. According to the former president, McConnell's seniority in the Republican Party is due to the amount of money he raises.
Since Trump's election defeat in 2020, the turbulent relationship between the former president and the Senate Minority Leader has grown even tenser.
After appearing to embrace Joe Biden's win and criticizing the former president for being "practically and morally responsible" for the Capitol insurgency on January 6, McConnell enraged Trump.
Senator Mitch McConnell has been a thorn in the side of Donald Trump since the former president left the White House, defying his policy demands and attempts to depose him as a minority leader.
Over Trump's objections, the Kentucky Republican brokered an agreement with Senate Democrats to temporarily raise the debt ceiling, prompting calls for his removal as the chamber's top Republican, a position he has held for almost 15 years.
It is part of a trend repeated since the former president's loss in November of last year. Trump demands that McConnell support or oppose a program or take a specific action, but McConnell refuses, as per The Washington Examiner via Yahoo.
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