Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell — for the second time in a week — expressed some reservations about Donald Trump heading the 2016 Republican ticket.
In an interview with
NY1, the veteran GOP Kentucky senator said the presumptive GOP nominee isn't yet a credible presidential candidate.
"Trump clearly needs to change, in my opinion, to win the general election," McConnell said. "What I've said to him both publicly and privately: 'You're a great entertainer. You turn on audiences. You're good before a crowd. You have a lot of Twitter followers. That worked fine for you in the primaries. But now that you are in the general, people are looking for a level of seriousness that is typically conveyed by having a prepared text and Teleprompter and staying on message.
"So my hope is that he is beginning to pivot and become what I would call a more serious and credible candidate for the highest office in the land," he added.
Pressed about whether Trump has now met that "threshold," McConnell demurred, saying: "He's getting closer. Getting closer."
But he called Trump's Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, both "intelligent and capable" — adding he hopes Republicans pull off a White House win in November.
Last Sunday, McConnell also refused to say Trump is qualified to be president, remarking, "I'll leave that to the American people to decide."