“McConnell is telling you now what people like me have been telling you for years — the GOP would rather lose to Democrats than lose control of the party to its base,” tweeted Steve Deace, an influential conservative talk show host. “That’s what ‘electable’ means — someone they approve of. Ditch would rather have [Arizona Democratic Sen. Mark] Kelly than [Republican challenger Blake] Masters, for example.”

Fellow radio host John Fredericks also said McConnell “has given up because he doesn’t want Trump candidates to win.”

“McConnell would rather lose the Senate than win with primary candidates he tried to knife. That’s why he’s having a temper tantrum right now instead of doing his job,” tweeted conservative commentator Sean Davis. “The truth is he wants every GOP nominee to be another Liz Cheney rather than someone responsive to GOP voters.”

“Totally absurd” is how one Republican operative characterized these reactions to the Washington Examiner.