Lindsey Graham warns Mitch McConnell he needs to make up with Trump or ‘fail’

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has worked publicly and privately to stay with former President Donald Trump’s good graces, but Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) -Ky.) Has not spoken to Trump since he publicly accepted President Biden’s victory in the weeks leading up to the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack.

McConnell on Tuesday sided with Senator Mike Rounds (RS.D.) for openly saying that Biden won and Trump lost in 2020, earn the fury of Trump. “I think Senator Rounds told the truth about what happened in the 2020 election.” he told CNN. “And I agree with him.” Senator Lindsey Graham (RS.C.) warned McConnell on Sean Hannity’s Fox News program Wednesday night that he’d better mend his relationship with Trump or his job as the Senate leadership is in danger.

“If you want to be a leader of the Republican Party in the House or Senate, you have to have a working relationship with Donald Trump,” Graham said. “I like Senator McConnell,” but Trump is “the leader of the Republican Party” and “I wouldn’t vote for anyone to lead the Senate as a Republican unless they can prove to me that they can support an American. Agenda first and have a working relationship with President Trump. Because if you don’t do that, you’re going to fail.”

Graham’s warning is “remarkable for a number of reasons,” starting with Graham knowing McConnell “shows no indication that he wants to make peace with the former president.” Rachael Bade and Ryan Lizza write on Thursday morning PoliticoPlaybook of. Additionally, “Graham and McConnell are often allies in the Senate” and “most of the GOP senators and Senate candidates sided with McConnell when asked about Trump’s push to oust McConnell.” What to watch, they added, is whether Graham’s comments “trigger some Republicans to change their calculus and abandon McConnell.”