Former President Donald Trump, the de-facto leader of the Republican Party, today called for the ouster of his party’s most powerful elected official: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky).
“Mitch McConnell is not an Opposition Leader, he is a pawn for the Democrats to get whatever they want,” Trump wrote in a statement. “He is afraid of them, and will not do what has to be done. A new Republican Leader in the Senate should be picked immediately!”
Trump calls on Mitch McConnell to step down or be replaced as Senate Republican Leader. pic.twitter.com/kAQwtccC7e
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) August 24, 2022
Trump’s anti-McConnell rhetoric has waxed and waned ever since the Minority Leader denounced the former president for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Recently, McConnell expressed concerns about GOP “candidate quality” in the upcoming elections, where Trump has hand-picked a number of candidates.
Prior to today, Trump had aimed his attacks at McConnell’s wife of 29 years Elaine Chao, criticizing her family’s ties to China, where its shipping company — which was founded in the U.S. and remains headquartered here — does business. Those ties were well-known during Chao’s four-year tenure as secretary of transportation under Trump, who appointed her.
Today’s fusillade marks an escalation aimed directly at McConnell, even as four major investigations and a series of revelations threaten Trump.
