Former President Donald Trump attacked Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell after the senator blamed him for inciting the deadly Capitol riot, CNN reports.
"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 lengthy statement. "He will never do what needs to be done, or what is right for our Country. Where necessary and appropriate, I will back primary rivals who espouse Making America Great Again and our policy of America First. We want brilliant, strong, thoughtful, and compassionate leadership."
"This is a big moment for our country, and we cannot let it pass by using third rate 'leaders' to dictate our future!" he added.
The statement came after McConnell voted to acquit Trump in the Senate trial but argued that the former president was responsible for inciting the attack on the Capitol.
Chin diss dropped:
A source close to Trump told Politico that the statement could have been “far worse.”
“An earlier draft mocked McConnell for having multiple chins, the person said,” according to the report. “But Trump was convinced by advisers to take it out.”
“There was also a lot of repetitive stuff and definitely something about him having too many chins but not enough smarts,” the source said.
Graham backs Trump:
Sen. Lindsey Graham defended Trump’s attack on his party’s leader and urged McConnell to tone it down.
“They're now at each other's throat. I'm more worried about 2022 than I've ever been. I don't want to eat our own,” Graham said.
"What I would say to Senator McConnell: I know Trump can be a handful, but he is the most dominant figure in the Republican Party," he continued. "We don't have a snowball's chance in hell of taking back the majority without Donald Trump. If you don't get that, you're just not looking."
