Axios: “A super PAC closely aligned with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is prepared to intervene in GOP primaries – and challenge former President Trump – as it looks for the most viable candidates to reclaim the Senate. Trump’s weekend endorsement of Rep. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) in his state’s 2022 Senate race put the GOP establishment on notice that party leaders won’t necessarily get to handpick their preferred candidates for the crucial midterms.”
“Trump and McConnell, former allies, parted ways over the former president’s challenge to the 2020 election results and his speech stoking the Jan. 6 insurrection. In some cases, Trump and GOP strategists may agree on who the best candidate is, but the pro-McConnell PAC – the Senate Leadership Fund – also is making clear it will make its own, independent assessment. ‘As has long been SLF’s policy, we reserve the right to intervene in cases where a candidate is a clear threat to lose a seat in a general election and to protect our Republican incumbents,’ Jack Pandol, the PAC’s communications director, told Axios.”