WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., told NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday” that she is not quite ready to endorse anyone in the race to replace outgoing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
“As we know now, the two Johns are in there, Sen. John Cornyn and John Thune and they’re both wonderful,” said Capito. “Not just as members, but people. It’s going to be a tough choice.”
McConnell, 82, announced on Feb. 28, that he would step down as the Republican leader this fall.
“One of life’s most underappreciated talents is to know when it’s time to move on to life’s next chapter,” he said at the time. “So I stand before you today … to say that this will be my last term as Republican leader of the Senate.”
For Capito, the next GOP leader in the chamber will need to be able to unite a fractured Republican Party.
“One thing that Mitch McConnell does not get the credit for, besides being a good leader, is he is willing to take an arrow for every single one of his members,” said Capito. “And that’s what a good leader has to do.”
McConnell’s relationship with the presumptive 2024 GOP presidential nominee former President Donald Trump has essentially been over since Trump refused to accept the results of the Electoral College. But the rupture deepened dramatically after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. McConnell assigned blame and responsibility to Trump and said that he should be held to account through the criminal justice system for his actions.
Capito said she’s not “putting her foot on the scale” for anyone looking to secure McConnell’s position at the moment, citing “lots of time to figure it out.”
“We’re gonna need a strong leader,” she said.
