FILE PHOTO: U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) speaks about former U.S. President Donald Trump, accusing him of dereliction of duty, immediately after the U.S. Senate voted to acquit Trump by a vote of 57 guilty to 43 not guilty, short of the 2/3s majority needed to convict, during the fifth day of the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump on charges of inciting the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., February 13, 2021. U.S. Senate TV/Handout via Reuters
WASHINGTON — Former U.S. President Donald Trump lashed out at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday, signaling a growing feud between the two most 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 amid the fallout over the former president’s second impeachment trial.
Trump and McConnell parted ways in the weeks after the Nov. 3 presidential election, with Trump irked that 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.