Former President Donald Trump is warning Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is “hanging by a thread” in regard to the filibuster.
“Look, he’s hanging by a thread right now with respect to the filibuster,” Trump said during an interview on “The Truth With Lisa Boothe” podcast posted on Monday.
He added, “And if they get the filler, he’s hanging on Joe Manchin, who always goes with the Democrats. Joe talks, but he ends up going with the Democrats and a very decent senator from the great state of Arizona. He’s hanging by a thread and if they get rid of the filibuster, if they knock it out, it will be catastrophic for the Republican Party.”
Trump’s comments come less than a week after McConnell warned Democrats getting rid of the filibuster would lead to a “completely scorched earth” Senate.
When asked if he would support a measure to reform the filibuster, McConnell replied, “It’s not broken, and it doesn’t need to be fixed.”
He added, “It’s not broken, and it doesn’t need to be fixed. This is a solution in search of a problem. It is not a problem that the Senate stops bad ideas or negotiates bipartisan solutions.”
Listen to Trump’s interview below:
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) seemingly suggested he is open to eliminating the filibuster or making changes to it if Republicans attempt to block legislation, as IJR reported.
“We Democrats, all of us, believe we need big, bold change. As I’ve said before, we hope our Republican colleagues will work with us to produce that change,” Schumer said while speaking to reporters.
He continued, “We will try to get them to work with us. But if not, we will put our heads together and figure out how to go, and everything is on the table.”
President Joe Biden said during an interview with ABC News last week he did not believe the filibuster needed to be eliminated.
Instead, he suggested returning it to “what it used to be when I first got to the Senate back in the old days. You had to stand up and command the floor. You had to keep talking.”
