Trump slams ‘dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack’ McConnell
Former US President Donald Trump has unleashed a blistering attack on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, vowing to back challengers to lawmakers who have crossed him.
In a statement released by his political action committee on Tuesday, Trump called McConnell a “political hack” days after the Senate’s top Republican denounced him as the inciter of US Capitol attack.
Trump also said McConnell was responsible for Republicans’ loss of the upper congressional chamber, warning that if GOP lawmakers keep him as their leader, they will lose again.
“The Republican Party can never again be respected or strong with political ‘leaders’ like Sen. Mitch McConnell at its helm," Trump said. “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 suggested he would try to defeat McConnell and his Republican allies, saying he planned to “back primary rivals who espouse Making America Great”.
“This is a big moment for our country,” Trump wrote, “and we cannot let it pass by using third rate ‘leaders’ to dictate our future.”
McConnell criticized Trump in a speech from the Senate floor after voting to acquit the former Republican president on impeachment charges that he incited a mob to attack the Capitol on January 6. Despite his vote, he said that Trump was “practically and morally” responsible for the violence that left five people dead.
“There’s no question, none, that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day,” McConnell said Saturday. “The people who stormed this building believed they were acting on the wishes and instructions of their president."
Trump, the only president to be impeached twice, was acquitted on a 57-43 vote after McConnell joined other Republicans in voting against the former president's conviction.
McConnell also left open the possibility that Trump might face civil or criminal charges for the role he had in the riots, despite being acquitted by the Senate.
“President Trump is still liable for everything he did while he was in office, as an ordinary citizen, unless the statute of limitations has run. ... [He] didn't get away with anything yet,” McConnell added.
In an op-ed McConnell published in the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, he detailed his constitutional reasons for acquittal, but signaled he would work against Trump-backed Senate candidates in 2022 whom he thought were unelectable.
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