President Donald Trump appears to have adopted Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's view about Republican primaries.
McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, often says, "There's no education in the second kick of a mule."
Trump, appearing with Republican congressional leaders and members of his administration Saturday at Camp David in Maryland, apparently got the message after the Republicans managed to lose the special election for the Senate seat in Alabama to Democrat Doug Jones.
"We're going to be very involved, in fact not only with the Senate but also with the House," Trump said of his plans for primaries in 2018. "Protecting incumbents and whoever I have to protect."
"I will be actually working for incumbents and anybody else that has my kind of thinking," Trump said.
When asked if he might engage in challenges to incumbent Republican senators, Trump turned and looked toward McConnell as he said he did not envision such a move.
"I don't see that happening. I don't see that happening at this moment," he said. "I think they've sort of scattered. We had somebody that lost us the state of Alabama, and I think as far as I'm concerned that was a shame that we lost. That should never have been lost."
Trump did not mention the Alabama Republican nominee, Roy Moore, by name. McConnell and his political operation had worked to support Luther Strange, who had been the appointed incumbent, in the primary and made no attempt to help Moore after the primary.
Trump did call for people to support Moore, but generally stayed at arm's length other than on Twitter.
"If you don't have the good candidate, you're just not going to win," Trump said Saturday.
Trump was on a weekend retreat at Camp David with McConnell, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin and other Republican congressional leaders, members his Cabinet and senior White House officials and advisers.
