Mitch McConnell: President Trump ‘Extremely Helpful’ in Republicans Holding Senate

In a press conference Wednesday morning, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) praised President Donald Trump for helping Republicans keep the Senate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jD-tC_DhkO4

The Republicans “had a very good day” Tuesday despite the House loss, McConnell told reporters. “In looking at the race, I want to thank the President,” he said. “He was extremely helpful to us in states where he is in excellent shape. He worked very hard, drew large crowds. I think it clearly had a positive impact on the outcome.”

Republicans expanded their 51-seat majority after winning in Missouri, Indiana, and North Dakota. 

The Kentucky lawmaker said he and soon-to-be House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), are “not unfamiliar” with one another as longtime leaders and colleagues.

As for congressional action the rest of this year, McConnell said he could not imagine taking up immigration and acknowledged that the Democratic House and Republican Senate were likely to go their separate ways when it comes to the legislative agenda.

“Areas for legislative agreement will be more limited,” he said.

“The one issue that Leader Pelosi and I discussed this morning where there could be a possible bipartisan agreement would be something on infrastructure, but there could be a lot of other things,” he added.

Further, McConnell said that House Democrats will have to decide how much they want to “harass” President Trump, echoing a similar message from the president, who on Twitter cautioned Democrats not to abuse their new House majority to launch politically-motivated investigations into his administration.

“If the Democrats think they are going to waste Taxpayer Money investigating us at the House level, then we will likewise be forced to consider investigating them for all of the leaks of Classified Information, and much else, at the Senate level,” President Trump wrote. “Two can play that game!”

If the Democrats think they are going to waste Taxpayer Money investigating us at the House level, then we will likewise be forced to consider investigating them for all of the leaks of Classified Information, and much else, at the Senate level. Two can play that game!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 7, 2018

In Tuesday’s elections, McConnell said the contentious, partisan fight over Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination was “very helpful” in winning Senate seats, like an “adrenaline shot” for Republican voters.

Now-Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh was confirmed last month after California professor Christine Blasey Ford brought forth a decades-old sexual misconduct allegation against him.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.