Donald Trump on Sunday ridiculed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for endorsing him earlier this year amid their rift.
“Hopefully, we get rid of Mitch McConnell pretty soon because he helped that guy,” the former president said while criticizing the Biden administration’s economic policies at a rally in Kinston, North Carolina, on Sunday. “Can you believe he endorsed me? Boy, that must have been a painful day in his life.”
Trump added, “He didn’t have to do that. He provided the necessary votes. What a disgrace.”
The two have reportedly not been on speaking terms for years. McConnell rebuked Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol, blaming him for inciting the riot. In return, Trump has hurled insults at McConnell and his wife, Elaine Chao, who resigned as Trump’s transportation secretary after the insurrection.
McConnell had also reportedly trashed Trump in private, after the 2020 election but before the attack on the Capitol, as “stupid,” “ill-tempered” and a “despicable human being.”
But that didn’t stop McConnell from endorsing Trump in March when it became clear that Trump would become the GOP’s presidential nominee.
“It should come as no surprise that as nominee, he will have my support,” McConnell said in a statement at the time.
He had announced days earlier that he intends to step down as the party’s Senate leader in November after nearly two decades in the role.