PoliticoDonald Trump attacks Mitch McConnell in fiery statement
- The former US president called the senator a ‘dour, sullen and unsmiling political hack’, adding that Republicans ‘will not win again’ if they stick with him
- An earlier draft mocked McConnell for having ‘too many chins but not enough smarts’, but advisers convinced Trump to take it out
This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Matthew Choi and Marianne Levine on politico.com on February 16, 2021.
Former US president Donald Trump issued a caustic and highly personal statement against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday, effectively declaring war on the Kentucky Republican for failing to back his attempts to undermine the 2020 election.
“Mitch is a dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack, and if Republican senators are going to stay with him, they will not win again,” Trump said in a statement released by his PAC.
McConnell publicly soured on the former president after the January 6 attack on the Capitol, breaking four years of support from the Senate leadership. Though he voted against convicting Trump at the Senate impeachment trial, he said from the Senate floor that Trump was “practically and morally responsible” for the insurrection, which left at least five people dead.
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US Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell finally acknowledges Biden and Harris’ election victory
McConnell objected to the constitutionality of convicting a former president. But he also told his caucus that Trump could face criminal prosecution.