During an interview with FNC’s “Your World” on Thursday, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) pledged her support for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
McConnell’s hold on his leadership post has come into question as Republicans seemingly underperformed in this week’s midterm elections.
Partial transcript as follows:
NEIL CAVUTO, HOST FNC’s “YOUR WORLD”: When you and your fellow senators do regroup, Senator, is it too early to start talking about who should be your leader?
Mitch McConnell’s name comes up, that he would be a good Senate majority leader if you got the majority. Donald Trump has made it clear Rick Scott, anyone almost but Mitch McConnell.
Where are you on this?
SEN. SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO (R-WV): Oh, I am in Mitch McConnell’s camp, and always have been.
I mean, his book is called “The Long Game.” The leader — Leader McConnell can look so much further down the road to strategy, to figuring out the best way on a very narrow 50/50 split. That’s tough stuff. And the other thing, I think, that Senator McConnell has done for all of us, and certainly I’m included, he will take the incoming fire.
He will make the tough decisions for us as a conference and as Republicans and be the messenger for that. And that’s what you want in a leader. You want a leader of the 50 of us who are looking out for the rest of us. And so I expect him to be our leader again.
CAVUTO: So, no matter what Donald Trump says about it, because one of the things he has also said about him is that, if he were the leader and he’s passing along legislation or whatever, he wouldn’t pay attention to him.
You can’t do that, can you?
CAPITO: No. I mean, you know what?
Donald Trump’s not one of those 50. And Senator McConnell has a — hopefully, we will have 50. Hopefully, we will have 51. That’s his constituency right now. And count me in on his team.
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor