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McConnell Slams Trump Over ‘Candidate Quality’

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Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) blamed the power Donald Trump exerted in GOP primaries for the “candidate quality” issues his party struggled with in key races, The Hill reports.

Said McConnell: “I never said there was a red wave, I said we had a bunch of close races. We ended up having a candidate quality issue. Look at Arizona, look at New Hampshire, there was a challenging situation in Georgia as well.”

He added: “Our ability to control primary outcomes was quite limited in ’22 because the support of the former president proved to be very decisive in these primaries so my view was do the best with the cards you’re dealt.”

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About Political Wire

Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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