GOP Senator Says Republicans’ Strategy ‘Isn’t Working’ After Mitch McConnell Is Reelected Leader

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) delivers remarks during the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, on March 21, 2022. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said that Republicans’ strategy “isn’t working” after Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was again elected leader of the Senate GOP.

“I think Sen. McConnell’s view is that [former President Donald] Trump is largely to blame“ for the party’s poor midterm showing, Hawley said. ”That Republicans have an image problem with Trump. I don’t agree with that.”

“I think that frankly, that lets the party off too easy. I think that Republican-leaning independents, that is, people who don’t like [President] Joe Biden but don’t identify as Republicans. I think they look at this party and they’re like, ‘Man, I don’t think they’re doing it for me,’” the Missouri senator said. “That’s why they stayed home.”

“They don’t like what’s going on in the country. They looked at Republicans, and Trump wasn’t on their ballot, but looked at the Republicans who were. As a group they were like, ‘We just don’t think you guys do anything for us.’ I think that’s a huge problem,” Hawley elaborated to reporters after the vote.

On Wednesday, McConnell swatted back a challenge from Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) to retake his position as GOP leader. The vote was 37–10, senators told reporters after the vote. While flashing a half-smile at reporters following the vote, the 80-year-old McConnell told reporters that “I’m not going anywhere” and that he was “pretty proud of the outcome.”

The longtime GOP leader has received criticism from Scott and members of his own party for not spending enough campaign money on candidates in Arizona and elsewhere, while attempting to prop up Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) against fellow Republican Senate candidate Kelly Tshibaka in Alaska’s ranked-choice election.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) arrives to the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Nov. 16, 2022. J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo

Scott, who ran the Senate election arm during the midterms, has been reportedly feuding with McConnell for months and has publicly criticized the minority leader over what policies Republicans should pursue.

“I ran for Senate because we need OUTSIDERS to take on the D.C. swamp and get RESULTS,” Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) in his statement in backing Scott on Wednesday. “Hoosier conservative Republicans are sick and tired of the status quo. I’m proud to support my friend and fellow conservative outsider Rick Scott for our Leader.”

Republicans failed to capture the Senate majority despite decades-high inflation, rising violent crime, and Biden’s low approval rating. In the House, the GOP on Wednesday night secured their majority while Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was elected leader of the party despite a challenge from Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.).

While some Republicans attempted to pin the blame on Trump, the former president and his allies have said that the GOP performed relatively poorly because he wasn’t on the ballot. Trump has said that the vast majority of his endorsements went on to win their races.

Senate Democrats have postponed internal elections until after the Thanksgiving holiday is over. There is also a Dec. 6 runoff election slated for Georgia’s Senate seat between Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) and Republican challenger Herschel Walker, a former NFL star, after neither won more than 50 percent of the vote last week.