Mitch McConnell (left), Donald Trump.Photo: Oliver Contreras/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Count Mitch McConnell among those who were all too happy to seeDonald Trumptake a flight to Florida ahead ofJoe Biden’s Januaryinauguration— at least according to a new book.
Karl’s book, out Tuesday, further details the complicated relationship between Trump and McConnell, who was a major congressional ally but who grew increasingly estranged from Trump over his behavior. Nonetheless, McConnell has remained acutely aware of Trump’s popularity with conservative voters.
In the weeks following the riots, McConnell told fellow Republican Liz Cheney — who felt a committee should investigate what led to the attack — that she should move on from the riots, allegedly saying it could hurt her chances at reelection, Karl writes.
Spokespeople for Trump and McConnell did not respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment regarding Karl’s book.
Elsewhere in his book, Karl writes that former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had discussions about using the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office in the hours following the Capitol riots.
Speaking on MSNBC on Monday, Karl said he “learned that Mnuchin had several conversations about the 25th Amendment and, further, that Mike Pompeo actually asked for a legal analysis of the 25th Amendment and how it would work.”
Neither Mnunchin nor Pompeo initially commented on his reporting about the 25th amendment, despite multiple requests, Karlsaid. A spokesperson for Pompeo later denied any conversation about the 25th Amendment.
But Karl’s reporting backs up similar reports inABC News,CBS NewsandCNN: that Trump Cabinet members were discussing whether he could be removed following his response to the violent riot at the Capitol building.
Section four of the 25th Amendment of the Constitution would at least temporarily “sideline” the president for days or weeks at a time “if the vice president and the majority of the Cabinet members decide that the president [is unfit for] office,” Larry Tribe, a constitutional law professor at Harvard Law School,previously explained to PEOPLE.
Under the amendment, the president is not removed from office as he would be under impeachment. But his powers are stripped temporarily — or even permanently, should two-thirds of Congress ultimately side with the vice president and make him acting president.
source: people.com
