Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday issued a scathing attack on the most powerful Republican in post-Trump Washington, calling Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell an ‘uncompromising political hack’ to be thrown out of office.
“The Republican Party can never again be respected or strong with political ‘leaders’ like Senator Mitch McConnell at the helm,” Trump said in a 626-word e-mail statement that the Republican from Kentucky is beyond political war. declared.
“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,” Trump said.
‘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. ”
The statement comes one day after McConnell apparently made an effort to resolve a GOP split over Trump’s recent indictment because he allegedly incited the January 6 riot of the Capitol.
McConnell told the Wall Street Journal: “I do not assume that, to the extent that the former president wants to continue to be involved, he will not be a constructive part of the process.”
McConnell voted Saturday to acquit Trump of “incitement to insurrection,” but then tore himself off a floor of the Senate in a speech, saying Trump is “practically and morally responsible” for the violence that killed five. He cites Trump’s claim that he actually defeated President Biden in the November 3 election, a “crescendo of conspiracy theories orchestrated by an outgoing president who seemed determined to reverse the decision of the electorate, or to oust us. flare up institutions along the way. “
Trump’s Tuesday statement blames McConnell for Republican misery and acknowledges himself for recent successes.
‘In 2020, I received the most votes of any sitting president in history, almost 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,” he said.
‘Republicans won majorities in at least 59 of the 98 partisan legislatures, and the Democrats could not 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. the 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. . ”
Trump continues: ‘It was an overall 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. ”
The former president, who according to polls is a powerful IDP figure, indicated that the breakup with McConnell will be permanent after the two worked together during his four-year term on common goals such as tax cuts and three Supreme Court affirmations.
‘My only regret is that McConnell’ begged ‘for my strong support and approval before 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 harming our country,” Trump said.
“Similarly, McConnell has no credibility with China due to his family’s significant Chinese businesses. He does nothing about this huge economic and military threat. ”
McConnell said last month that the insurgents disrupting Biden’s victory certification had been “provoked by the president” and his Chinese-American wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, was the first Trump cabinet member to resign. due to the violence. Chao’s father, who fled to Taiwan during the Chinese Civil War, and brother-in-law are leading international businessmen.
Trump continued: “Mitch is a fierce, grumpy and uncompromising political heel, 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 economy and number of jobs in our country’s history, and our economic recovery after 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. ”
Trump concluded, “This is a great moment for our country, and we can not pass it up by using third-class ‘leaders’ to dictate our future!”
Trump was acquitted by the Senate with only seven Republicans joining the Democrats to be convicted. The 57-43 vote came far from the two-thirds requirement of the Constitution for conviction. Because he was acquitted, Trump will still be eligible for re-election in 2024.
McConnell will not be re-elected until 2026, but Republican primary elections in 2022 are likely to be a proxy war between pro-Trump and pro-McConnell factions. Trump earlier insisted on a primary challenge in 2022 against Republican John Thune, no. 2, of South Dakota, who, like McConnell, voted for acquittal.
McConnell’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.