Former President Trump issued a scathing statement Tuesday afternoon targeting Senate Minority Mitch McConnell.
Trump, who was once an ally of the Kentucky Republican, reprimanded McConnell on terms worse than those of most Democrats.
Trump called McConnell a “sad, grumpy and impeccable political hooker” and said the GOP “will never again be respected or strong” with McConnell at the helm.
McConnell said Trump was responsible for the January 6 riot on Capitol Hill and suggested he voted not to convict Trump of blaming the riot just because he is no longer president.
Trump said in his statement that Democrats and Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y. plays “McConnell like a violin” and blames McConnell for the GOP’s Senate losses in Georgia for not offering enough stimulus checks.
MCCONNELL SS HE WAS DEFENDING THE CONSTITUTION, NOT INVOLVED WITH ADDITIONAL VOTE
‘In’ Mitch’s Senate ‘I have saved at least 12 Senate seats in the last two election cycles, more than eight in the 2020 cycle alone – and then came the disaster in Georgia, where we should have won both U.S. Senate seats, but McConnell agrees the Democrats ‘offer of $ 2,000 stimulus checks for $ 600.’
Trump also insisted that Republicans lose in Georgia because they did not maintain the integrity of the election. “Many Republicans in Georgia voted Democrats, or just did not vote, because of their fears for their incompetent governor, Brian Kemp, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, and the Republican Party, because he did not do his job on the integrity of the election during the presidential election in 2020. race. ‘
The former president reiterates a claim sometimes made by McConnell’s opponents that the senator is soft with China because he has business ties in the country through his Taiwanese wife, Elaine Chao, Trump’s former transportation secretary. “McConnell has no credibility with China because of his family’s significant Chinese businesses. He does nothing about this huge economic and military threat,” Trump wrote.
Trump and McConnell found themselves in the aftermath of the 2020 election, when McConnell urged his colleagues to vote to confirm the election for President Biden, as Trump went on to claim that the election was stolen from him.
MCCONNELL RIPS TRUMP, S AC ACTIONS ‘UNRELIABLE’ BUT TRIAL WAS UNSTITUTIONAL
Trump has vowed to support primary opponents of McConnell, “where necessary and appropriate.”
McConnell selected the former president on the Senate floor on Saturday, after he voted to acquit him in the indictment. He argued that the Senate did not have the constitutional power to convict a private citizen, but that he left the door open for a criminal trial.
McConnell said the attack was a foreseeable consequence of the growing crescendo of false statements, conspiracy theories and reckless hyperbole that kept the defeated president in the largest megaphone on earth. ‘
“President Trump is still accountable for everything he did while in office,” McConnell continued. “He has not escaped anything yet. We have a criminal justice system in this country. We have a civil lawsuit.”
He returned to the presidency on Monday in a statement to the Wall Street Journal.
“There is no doubt about former President Trump’s moral responsibility. His supporters stormed the Capitol because of the unintentional lies he shouted in the world’s biggest megaphone. His behavior during and after the chaos was also unscrupulous, from the attack. on Vice President Mike Pence during the riot to praise the criminals after it ended, ”McConnell wrote.
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A source close to the former president told Fox News the statement sent this afternoon was a direct response to McConnell’s Wall Street Journal piece.
The same source denies a report that Trump considered making a statement on camera
Trump’s full statement is below:
The Republican Party can never again be respected or strong with political “leaders” like Senator Mitch McConnell at the helm. McConnell’s commitment to ordinary affairs, the status quo policy, coupled with his lack of political insight, wisdom, skill and personality, quickly drove him from majority leader to minority leader, and it will only get worse. The Democrats and Chuck Schumer play McConnell like a violin – they’ve never had it so good – and they want to keep it that way! We know our America First agenda is a winner, not McConnell’s Beltway First agenda or Biden’s America Last.
By 2020, I got the most votes of any sitting president in history, nearly 75,000,000. Every current Republican from the House has won for the first time in decades, and we turned over 15 seats, which almost cost Nancy Pelosi her job. Republicans won majorities in at least 59 of the 98 bipartisan legislatures, and Democrats failed to turn a single legislative chamber from red to blue. And in ‘Mitch’s Senate’, I saved at least 12 Senate seats in the last two election cycles, more than eight in the 2020 cycle alone – and then came the disaster in Georgia, where we should have won both U.S. Senate seats, but McConnell agrees Democrats’ offer of $ 2,000 stimulus checks with $ 600. How does it work? It became the Democrats’ main ad, and it was a big winner for them. McConnell placed himself, one of the most unpopular politicians in the United States, in the ads. Many Republicans in Georgia voted Democrats, or just did not vote, because of their fears for their incompetent governor, Brian Kemp, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, and the Republican Party for not doing his job on integrity of the election during the presidential race in 2020. .
It was a complete election disaster in Georgia, and certain other swing states. McConnell has done nothing and will never do what needs to be done to ensure a fair and equitable electoral system in the future. He does not have what is needed, never did and never will.
My only regret is that McConnell ‘begged’ my strong support and endorsement in front of the great people of Kentucky in the 2020 election, and I gave it to him. He rose from one point to 20 points and won. How quickly he does not forget. Without my approval, McConnell would have lost and lost badly. Now, his numbers are lower than ever before, he is destroying the Republican side of the Senate, and thereby he is harming our country.
Similarly, McConnell has no credibility with China because of his family’s significant Chinese businesses. He does nothing about this huge economic and military threat.
Mitch is a daring, grumpy and hilarious political hacker, and if Republican Senators stay with him, they will not win again. He will never do what needs to be done, or what is right for our country. Where necessary and appropriate, I will support primary competitors that are making America America Great Again and our America First policies. We want brilliant, strong, thoughtful and compassionate leadership.
Before the pandemic, we produced the largest number of economies and jobs in the history of our country, and our economic recovery to Covid was also the best in the world. We have reduced taxes and regulations, rebuilt our military, cared for our veterinarians, become energy independent, built the wall and stopped the massive influx of illegals into our country, and so much more. And now illegals are pouring in, pipelines are being stopped, taxes will rise and we will no longer be energy independent.
This is a great moment for our country, and we cannot pass it up by using a third-rate “leader” to prescribe our future!
Fox Stein’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.