Trump: Mitch McConnell Tried to Destroy Me
Former President Donald Trump didn’t hold back on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell during his interview with Tucker Carlson that aired Wednesday night on X, the platform formerly called Twitter.
Trump accused the Kentucky Republican of encouraging other senators to impeach him.
“Mitch McConnell, in my opinion, was trying to get senators to impeach me, especially for the second one,” the GOP front-runner in the 2024 presidential race told Carlson.
He described McConnell as slow-walking his defense during his first impeachment.
“And in the first one he acted very, very slow,” Trump said. “Should’ve gone much faster.”
The comments begin around the 42:14 mark in the video below:
Ep. 19 Debate Night with Donald J Trump pic.twitter.com/ayPfII48CO
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) August 24, 2023
Trump asserted that McConnell used his campaign finance authority as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee to undermine the fight against his impeachment.
“Guys that are subservient to him, because he gives money,” the former president said.
“He raises some money, and he gives it to them, and therefore they do what he says,” Trump said.
“That’s the only form of leadership he’s got.”
McConnell broke with Trump after the 2020 election, citing the then-president’s actions to fight the outcome of the contest against Democrat Joe Biden.
The senator voted against both impeachments of Trump, although he castigated the 45th president in a Senate floor speech before voting against the second impeachment.
Seven Republican senators did vote to impeach Trump in his second impeachment trial. However, the 57-43 vote in favor of his conviction fell short of the required two-thirds majority.
Trump endorsed McConnell in 2020 but later said he regretted it.
While the relationship between Trump and the GOP Senate leader has soured, the former president has a close alliance with Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy.
McConnell, 81, holds the record for the longest tenure of a leader in the upper chamber of Congress, according to Politico. Democratic Sen. Mike Mansfield of Montana previously held the mark of 16 years.
Trump spoke with Carlson as an alternative to Wednesday night’s Republican primary debate, which he decided not to attend.
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