Fmr. President Trump lashes out at Sen. McConnell in deepening feud between top Republicans
US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (L) reacts as President Donald Trump speaks to the press before a meeting with Republican Congressional leaders at the White House in Washington, DC, on September 5, 2018. (Photo by NICHOLAS KAMM / AFP) (Photo credit should read NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)
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PALM BEACH, Fla. (NewsNation Now) — Former President Donald Trump lashed out at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in a statement Tuesday, signaling a growing feud between two important voices in the Republican Party.
“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.
Trump and McConnell parted ways in the weeks after the Nov. 3 presidential election. McConnell had recognized Democrat Joe Biden as the winner. The gap between them widened when McConnell declared on the Senate floor on Saturday that Trump was “practically and morally responsible” for the deadly Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol.
The two are trying to push the party in opposite directions, McConnell back toward the roots of a budget-focused, pro-trade party, while Trump, who is still backed by a large portion of the Republican voter base, advocates a more populist approach.
McConnell didn’t vote to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial, but did deliver an address on the Senate floor following the acquittal placing blame on the former president for the riot.
Reporting by Steve Holland and Susan Cornwell; Editing by Scott Malone and Peter Cooney.
Reuters contributed to this report.
