Former President Donald Trump criticized Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) following the House select committee investigating the January 6 Capitol attack’s playing of a clip of the Kentucky Republican blaming Trump for inciting the riots during a speech on the Senate floor.
“The mob was fed lies,” McConnell said in the video. “They were provoked by the president and other powerful people.”
“The people who stormed this building believed they were acting on the wishes and instructions of the president,” he added. “Having that belief was a foreseeable consequence of the growing crescendo of false statements, conspiracy theories and reckless hyperbole which the defeated president kept shouting into the largest megaphone on planet Earth.”
Still, he did not vote to impeach Trump for inciting the insurrection.
Trump responded by writing a post on Truth Social, his social media platform.
“Is this the same Mitch McConnell who was losing big in Kentucky, and came to the White House to BEG me for an Endorsement and help?” Trump said.
“Without me, he would have lost in a landslide. A disloyal sleaze bag!” the former president added.
The backlash from Trump came as Democrats decided not to pursue overturning Trump’s tax cuts which McConnell helped preserve as he continually voiced support for keeping one of Trump’s biggest domestic accomplishments intact. He also played a big role in securing the former president’s three Supreme Court nominees.
Trump’s post seemed to refer to the 2020 election, but in reality, McConnell never struggled to win his seventh term in the Senate. He won over challenger Amy McGrath by almost 20 points.
