WSJ
These better-call-Mitch appeals are happening at the same time Mr. Trump’s allies are attacking Mr. McConnell for telling the truth last week about GOP Senate prospects this year. The Minority Leader mentioned “candidate quality” as a factor in Senate campaigns, which is also true. Only the willfully blind can look at several of the Trump-endorsed nominees this year and claim they were the strongest candidates in the general election.
Arizona is a good example. Mr. Trump vowed to defeat the popular two-term GOP Gov. Doug Ducey if he ran for Senate because Mr. Ducey wouldn’t work to overturn Mr. Trump’s 2020 defeat in the state. Mr. Trump also trashed the capable Attorney General, Mark Brnovich, who ran and lost. The former President backed Mr. Masters, a political novice supported by financier Peter Thiel. But Mr. Trump’s support may hurt more than help in the general election, and he has been reluctant to share his financial campaign wealth with others.
Mr. Trump has shown he can help candidates win primaries with a plurality of the vote in a crowded field. What he hasn’t shown is that he can lift them to victory against Democrats in states that aren’t solidly Republican. He proved the opposite with his sabotage of the two GOP candidates in the January 2021 special elections in Georgia that cost Republicans control of the Senate.
That’s why the candidates he favors are now desperately seeking the help of Mr. McConnell, the leader Mr. Trump wants to replace.
