Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is vowing to remain as the Republican leader even if his party loses control of the Senate in the upcoming election.
On Tuesday, McConnell was asked if he plans to continue leading the party despite the uncertainties looming over the election.
In response to the question, McConnell said, “I do,” according to Politico.
Over the last four months, President Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus, as well as his controversial response to Black Lives Matter protests across the country have led to heightened scrutiny of the GOP ahead of the November election.
Many of Trump’s recent controversial remarks have also led Republican lawmakers to urge him to consider changing his rhetoric and tone as they have noted that his tweets have not been “constructive,” as previously reported on IJR.
Politico reports recent polling results also signal increasingly perilous possibilities where the future Republicans’ 53-seat Senate majority is concerned. The publication reports that a half-dozen Senate seats are up for grabs and the current Democratic candidates for those seats open doors for more diversity.
Even McConnell is up for re-election in the state of Kentucky. Democratic Senate candidate Amy McGrath–the frontrunner in the race– is heading into a heated primary next week against insurgent candidate Charles Booker.
Back in April, McConnell admitted that the battle to retain control of the Senate would be equivalent to a “dogfight.”
“Let me just say that the Senate majority has not been a certainty at any point this cycle. We always knew from the beginning, and I’ve said consistently, that it’s going to be a dogfight,” McConnell said during a previous interview on Fox News Radio.