Historian Douglas Brinkley: Trump is Jealous of the Power Mitch McConnell Wields

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Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 12:26 pm

It has been very obvious over the last 4 years that Donald Trump does not enjoy the job of president. It has been equally obvious, though, that Trump very much enjoys the power of the job.

And Trump has exercised that power over the last few weeks in the form of pardons for his political allies and friends. This week, however, Mitch McConnell showed Trump what real power was.

Despite pleas from the president to do so, McConnell won’t even hold a vote on a plan that would send $2,000 checks to American families. McConnell’s GOP-led senate is also set to override the president’s veto of the National Defense Authorization Act.

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During a Wednesday night CNN appearance, historian Douglas Brinkley opined that Trump is jealous of McConnell’s power. Host Jim Acosta asked, “What is your reaction to the first senator, Josh Hawley, on the Republican side announcing he will object to the results of the election when Congress meets next week? I’m guessing, as a presidential historian, we’ve never seen anything like this before.”

Brinkley replied:

“We’ve never seen anything like it, particularly with a pandemic going on. You would think the Republican Party would be united on disseminating the vaccine. But there there are two parties. There is Donald Trump and his power base, and he’s now able to see who’s a Trumpian and who’s not. And you’re starting to see jealousy towards Mitch McConnell. Donald Trump doesn’t want the idea that if Georgia goes Republican — the way to Sen. Mitch McConnell is the power broker — able to do deals with Joe Biden. Trump’s going to say ‘no deals with Biden, he’s a phony president,’ and turn to his 20 or maybe 15 senators that are pure Trump, that say no to Biden, and that way Trump will be able to continue to exert power.”

Todd Neikirk

Todd Neikirk is a New Jersey based politics and technology writer. His work has been featured in psfk.com, foxsports.com and hillreporter.com. He enjoys sports, politics, comic books and spending time at the shore with his family.