Watch: Entire RNC Boos Mitch McConnell as He Tries to Nominate Trump
McConnell tried to speak at the Republican National Convention—and the entire arena immediately began booing him.
![Mitch McConnell smiles among a crowd on the RNC floor. Others surround him with cameras.](http://images.newrepublic.com/116d30fd9bd37a4c1710fb93913325b60b7f21e6.jpeg?auto=format&fit=crop&crop=faces&q=65&w=768&h=undefined&ar=3%3A2&ixlib=react-9.0.2&w=768)
When Senator Mitch McConnell walked out on stage Monday at the Republican National Convention to nominate Donald Trump for president, he instantly got showered with a host of boos.
The jeers inside the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee were clearly audible as McConnell read out Kentucky’s delegate vote in favor of Donald Trump with a very small smile.
Mitch McConnell gets booed at the RNC pic.twitter.com/6bZA4CcLb7
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 15, 2024
Did McConnell expect a more favorable response? He has always been disliked by MAGA Republicans for being part of the old Republican orthodoxy, even as he pushed through Republican priorities and helped Trump appoint a record number of judges to the federal courts On a personal level, Trump and McConnell don’t have the best relationship, of which the MAGA faithful are well aware.
While Trump appointed McConnell’s wife, Elaine Chao, as secretary of transportation, he would later regularly make racist attacks against her, accusing the Senate minority leader of being compromised by China. Trump has also called McConnell a “dumb son of a b----.” McConnell only endorsed Trump for president earlier this year after all other Republican candidates dropped out of the primaries.
While McConnell lately criticized Trump’s “America First” foreign policy, reiterating his support for NATO and Ukraine, it’s doubtful the RNC crowd booed him for that reason. But McConnell probably doesn’t even care. Not only will he be stepping down from his Senate leadership position after November, but he also doesn’t need public support to accomplish what he wants: keeping the GOP in power.