Former President Donald Trump is lambasting Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and once again taking credit for the senator’s reelection.
In a statement on Thursday, Trump said he wanted to “set the record straight” on why Republicans lost the two special elections for Georgia’s Senate seats.
The first reason he claimed was that voters were “so angry and disappointed with Georgia Republican leadership.”
Trump claimed the other reason Republicans lost those seats is Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell‘s (R-Ky.) decision to block a move to increase stimulus checks from $600 per person to $2,000.
He said, “This latter point was used against our Senators, and the $2,000 will be approved anyway by the Democrats who bought the Georgia election—and McConnell let them do it!”
“Even more stupidly, the National Republican Senatorial Committee spent millions of dollars on ineffective TV ads starring Mitch McConnell, the most unpopular politician in the country, who only won in Kentucky because President Trump endorsed him,” he continued.
Finally, Trump added, “[McConnell] would have lost badly without this endorsement.”
Read the statement below:
TRUMP: “To set the record straight, there were two reasons the Senate races were lost in Georgia. …
— Scott Wong (@scottwongDC) March 4, 2021
“Senator Mitch McConnell’s refusal to go above $600 per person on the stimulus check payments when the two Democrat opponents were touting $2,000 per person in ad after ad.” pic.twitter.com/AwsygaXuLd
While McConnell voted to acquit Trump on the charge of incitement of insurrection last month, he said the former president is “practically and morally responsible” for the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Days later, Trump fired back in a statement calling McConnell a “dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack.”
He also took credit at the time for McConnell’s reelection as he claimed, “McConnell would have lost, and lost badly.”
Despite the personal attack, McConnell reportedly laughed at the statement and has signaled he wants to focus on “reacting to this new left-wing administration.”
“We’re looking forward. We’re not going to look backward. We’re looking forward to dealing with the problems America has today, not the problems it had yesterday,” he told Fox News on Wednesday.
McConnell also said he did not watch Trump’s speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
When asked about Trump’s claim that he salvaged McConnell’s reelection bid, he said, “Well, I want to thank him for the 15 point margin I had in 2014 as well.”
While McConnell has reportedly not spoken to Trump since December, he said he would “absolutely” support the former president if he won the party’s presidential nomination in 2024.
