Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. (left), and former President Donald Trump (right).
Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images
- Trump called Mitch McConnell a “loser” in a new NPR interview.
- He seemingly blamed McConnell over GOP senators who won’t embrace his false claims about the 2020 election.
- The former president has repeatedly lashed out at McConnell for not endorsing his “Big Lie.”
Former President Donald Trump in a new interview with NPR’s Steve Inskeep escalated his highly public feud with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, referring to the Kentucky Republican as a “loser.”
Trump placed blame on McConnell for why certain GOP senators are not continuing to push his “Big Lie” regarding the 2020 election, or the groundless notion that it was “rigged.”
When Inskeep asked Trump why he thought Republican senators like Mike Rounds of South Dakota have gone against the former president’s false claims about 2020, Trump said, “Because Mitch McConnell is a loser. And frankly, Mitch McConnell, if he were on the other side and if Schumer were put in his position, he would have been fighting this like you’ve never seen before.”
Though Trump and McConnell worked closely together during his presidency, the former president has routinely lashed out at the GOP leader since leaving the White House. McConnell’s refusal to embrace Trump’s “Big Lie” has drawn the former president’s ire.
Rounds was recently the target of verbal attacks from Trump after the South Dakota Republican said the 2020 presidential election was “as fair as we’ve seen.” In response, Trump called Rounds a “jerk” and said he “went woke.”
Responding to Trump, Rounds doubled-down on his previous comments: “I stand by my statement. The former president lost the 2020 election.” Other GOP senators, including McConnell, came to Rounds’ defense.
Speaking to CNN on Tuesday, McConnell said, “I think Sen. Rounds told the truth about what happened in the 2020 election. And I agree with him.”
It’s been well over a year since Election Day 2020 and Trump has still not acknowledged that he lost in a free and fair election to President Joe Biden.
Trump has repeatedly and erroneously asserted that the election was stolen from him. In the NPR interview, Trump referred to 2020 as “the presidential rigged election of 2020,” but went on to cut the conversation short when he was challenged over his lies.
The former president and his GOP allies filed dozens of lawsuits challenging the 2020 election results, and didn’t win a single one. Despite Trump’s claims, there’s no evidence of widespread or mass voter fraud linked to the 2020 election.
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