WASHINGTON -- Republican senators facing tough re-election contests may have to figure out how to distance themselves from the party's presidential nominee, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) suggested Sunday.
"Senate races are statewide races. You can craft your own message for your own people," McConnell said on CNN's "State of the Union." "That's exactly what we intend to do this fall no matter who the nominee is."
In other words, Senate Republicans are not exactly uniting behind Donald Trump. CNN's Dana Bash asked McConnell if he's worried having Trump at the top of the ballot will hurt Senate Republicans in those statewide races.
"We're going to be running strong with these incumbents no matter who the nominee ultimately is," McConnell said. "I intend to support the nominee of our party, and we'll find out who that is in the coming months."
In a recent New York Times story about Republican efforts to stop Trump, McConnell reportedly said Senate Republicans would "drop him like a hot rock" and pitch Republican senators as a necessary check on a President Hillary Clinton.
Last week, McConnell spoke to Trump and asked him to please quit encouraging violence at his rallies.
Editor's note: Donald Trump is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist, birther and bully who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims -- 1.6 billion members of an entire religion -- from entering the U.S.