Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, 82, of Kentucky said yesterday that he will step down as Republican leader in the Senate in November.
McConnell, who is the longest-serving Senate caucus leader in history, plans to keep his seat in the chamber, which he took in 1985 until the November elections. His current term ends in January 2027.
“To serve Kentucky, has been the honor of my life, to lead my Republican colleagues has been the highest privilege,” McConnell said.
“But one of life’s most underappreciated talents is to know when it’s time to move on to life’s next chapter, so I stand before you today, Mr. President and my colleagues, to say this will be my last term as Republican leader of the Senate,” he said. It is well known that McConnell does not enjoy a good relationship with Donald Trump who calls him “The Old Crow”. McConnell reportedly seriously considered voting to convict Trump at his second impeachment trial for inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
But The New York Times on Monday reported that people close to Trump and McConnell had been discussing McConnell endorsing Trump’s candidacy. CNBC
McConnell twice last summer briefly froze up and was unable to speak to reporters at news conferences.
When Senators leave office, the Governor of that state may nominate a replacement to see out the time until the next election. As Kentucky elected a Democrat last year, Mitch was not likely to have handed an extra vote to the Democrats who enjoy a slim majority and require vice-president Harris’s vote on occasions. This explains his decision to hang on until the November elections when the Republicans can run a candidate.
He noted “this has been a particularly difficult time for my family,” including his wife, former Cabinet secretary Elaine Chao.
“We tragically lost Elaine’s younger sister Angela, just a few weeks ago,” McConnell said. (See below)
“When you lose a loved one, particularly at a young age, there’s a certain introspection that accompanies the grieving process,” McConnell said.
Yes, Mitch there is. Losing a family member is tragic. Losing a CCP-connected relative in a freak event is shocking. In a world full of conspiracies we have to ask though, why are you going now? Is it Trump, your age, your health, pressure from China?
Angela Chao – Mitch McConnell’s sister in law drowned two weeks ago
Angela Chao (1973 – February 11, 2024) was an American businesswoman and philanthropist who served as CEO of the Foremost Group.
Of Chinese American heritage, Chao was born in Syosset, New York, and grew up in Harrison, New York. Her father was James S. C. Chao, who founded Foremost Group in 1964. She was the youngest of six sisters, one of whom is Elaine Chao, wife of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Her parents were born in China, but fled to Taiwan in 1949 due to the Chinese Civil War.
Her father came to the United States in 1958, while her mother and three oldest sisters moved to the United States in 1961. At the age of nine, Chao began joining her father on ship visits, exploring the vessels from the inside out, including ballast tanks and cargo holds.
Chao went to Harvard for her undergraduate degree, which she completed in three years, graduating with a degree in economics in 1994. She went on to receive her MBA from Harvard Business School.
Chao worked in mergers and acquisitions at Smith Barney, now a part of Morgan Stanley. She joined their family business Foremost Group in 1996, where she succeeded her father as CEO in 2018. Foremost Group operates a global fleet of bulk carriers. As CEO, she became interested in adding more environmentally sustainable vessels that can burn alternative fuels to the company’s roster.
At one point in her career, she was a member of the board of the Bank of China (owned by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)), a vice chair of the Council of China’s Foreign Trade and a director of the China State Shipbuilding Corporation, a Chinese government-owned enterprise that makes ships for the Chinese military, Foremost Group and other customers. She was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. It is inconceivable that she was not involved with the CCP.
Her husband, Jim Breyer has been a longtime VC investor in China. His joint venture firm, Beijing-based IDG Capital was just added (2/9/24) to the Pentagon’s list of ‘Chinese military companies’. Breyers firm is the first ever private equity firm to be so designated by The U.S. Defense Department (DOD). Breyer, in January of 2024, decided to ‘take a pause’ investing into China and Chinese tech companies for at least 18 months.
Chao died on February 11, 2024, at the age of 50. According to the Blanco County sheriff, she died after her Tesla went into a pond on her private ranch (named JWCB Ranch, or JW Ranch for short), which is located in Johnson City, about 40 miles west of Austin, which land records show is owned by a entity linked to the office of her husband. Police do not suspect foul play, but they also are not yet disclosing an official cause of Chao’s death, local media report.
She was under water for over an hour as rescuers tried to reach her and extricate her from the submerged car, but, upon her removal from the car, EMS workers delivered “advanced life support” for 43 minutes, but were unable to revive her.