WASHINGTON (AP) 69制片厂制作传媒 said after the 2020 election that then-President Donald Trump was 69制片厂制作传媒渟tupid as well as being ill-tempered," a 69制片厂制作传媒渄espicable human being" and a 69制片厂制作传媒渘arcissist,69制片厂制作传媒 according to excerpts from a new biography of the Senate Republican leader that will be released this month.
McConnell made the remarks in private as part of a series of personal oral histories that he made available to Michael Tackett, deputy Washington bureau chief of The Associated Press. Tackett69制片厂制作传媒檚 book, 69制片厂制作传媒淭he Price of Power,69制片厂制作传媒 draws from almost three decades of McConnell69制片厂制作传媒檚 recorded diaries and from years of interviews with the normally reticent Kentucky Republican.
The animosity between Trump and McConnell is well known 69制片厂制作传媒 Trump once called McConnell " ." But McConnell's private comments are by far his most brutal assessment of the former president and could be seized on by Democrats before the Nov. 5 election. The biography will be released Oct. 29, one week before Election Day that will decide if Trump returns to the White House.
Despite those strong words, McConnell has , saying earlier this year 69制片厂制作传媒渋t should come as no surprise69制片厂制作传媒 that he would support the Republican party's nominee. He in June when Trump visited GOP senators on Capitol Hill.
McConnell, 82, announced this year that as Republican leader after the election but stay in the Senate through the end of his term in 2026.
McConnell was 69制片厂制作传媒榗ounting the days69制片厂制作传媒 until Trump left office
The comments about Trump quoted in the book came in the weeks before the Trump was then actively trying to overturn his loss to Democrat Joe Biden. McConnell feared this would hurt Republicans in two Georgia runoffs and cost them the Senate majority. Democrats .
Publicly, McConnell had after the Electoral College certified the presidential vote and the senator not to challenge the results. But he did not say much else. Privately, he said in his oral history that 69制片厂制作传媒渋t69制片厂制作传媒檚 not just the Democrats who are counting the days69制片厂制作传媒 until Trump left office, and that Trump69制片厂制作传媒檚 behavior 69制片厂制作传媒渙nly underscores the good judgment of the American people. They69制片厂制作传媒檝e had just enough of the misrepresentations, the outright lies almost on a daily basis, and they fired him.69制片厂制作传媒
69制片厂制作传媒淎nd for a narcissist like him,69制片厂制作传媒 McConnell continued, 69制片厂制作传媒渢hat's been really hard to take, and so his behavior since the election has been even worse, by far, than it was before, because he has no filter now at all.69制片厂制作传媒
Before those Georgia runoffs, McConnell said Trump is 69制片厂制作传媒渟tupid as well as being ill-tempered and can69制片厂制作传媒檛 even figure out where his own best interests lie.69制片厂制作传媒
Trump was also holding up a at the time, despite bipartisan support. 69制片厂制作传媒淭his despicable human being,69制片厂制作传媒 McConnell said in his oral history, 69制片厂制作传媒渋s sitting on this package of relief that the American people desperately need.69制片厂制作传媒
On Jan. 6, soon after he made those comments, McConnell was holed up in a secure location with other congressional leaders, calling Vice President Mike Pence and military officials for reinforcements as Trump supporters stormed the Capitol. Once the Senate resumed debate over the certification of Biden's victory, McConnell said in a speech on the floor that 69制片厂制作传媒渢his failed attempt to obstruct the Congress, this failed insurrection, only underscores how crucial the task before us is for our republic.69制片厂制作传媒
McConnell then went to his office to address his staff, some of whom had barricaded themselves in the office as rioters banged on their doors. He started to sob softly as he thanked them, Tackett writes.
69制片厂制作传媒淵ou are my family, and I hate the fact that you had to go through this,69制片厂制作传媒 he told them.
The next month, McConnell gave his harshest public criticism of Trump on the Senate floor, saying he was 69制片厂制作传媒 69制片厂制作传媒 for the Jan. 6 attack. Still, McConnell voted to acquit Trump after House Democrats impeached him for inciting the riot.
Years of doubts and criticism
In a statement to the AP on Thursday, McConnell referenced two fellow Republican senators 69制片厂制作传媒 JD Vance of Ohio, the vice presidential nominee, and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, both of whom are strong Trump allies after harshly criticizing him during his first run in 2016.
69制片厂制作传媒淲hatever I may have said about President Trump pales in comparison to what JD Vance, Lindsey Graham, and others have said about him, but we are all on the same team now,69制片厂制作传媒 McConnell said.
McConnell also had doubts about Trump from the start. Just after Trump was elected in 2016, as Congress was certifying the election, McConnell told Biden, then the outgoing vice president, that he thought Trump could be trouble, Tackett writes.
The book channels McConnell69制片厂制作传媒檚 inner thoughts during some of the biggest moments after Trump took office, as McConnell held his tongue and as the two men repeatedly fought and made up.
In 2017, as Trump publicly criticized McConnell for the Senate's , Trump and McConnell had a heated argument on the phone. Weeks went by with no contact. Then Trump invited McConnell to the White House and called a joint news conference without telling him first. McConnell said the event went fine, and 69制片厂制作传媒渋t69制片厂制作传媒檚 not hard to look more knowledgeable than Donald Trump at a press conference.69制片厂制作传媒
After the passage of a that same year, McConnell said, 69制片厂制作传媒淎ll of a sudden, I69制片厂制作传媒檓 Trump69制片厂制作传媒檚 new best friend.69制片厂制作传媒
He blamed Trump after House Republicans lost their majority in the 2018 midterm elections, Tackett writes. Trump 69制片厂制作传媒漢as every characteristic you would not want a president to have,69制片厂制作传媒 McConnell said in an oral history at the time, and was 69制片厂制作传媒渘ot very smart, irascible, nasty.69制片厂制作传媒
In 2022, as Trump continued to criticize McConnell and made racist comments about his wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, McConnell told Tackett that 69制片厂制作传媒淚 can69制片厂制作传媒檛 think of anybody I69制片厂制作传媒檇 rather be criticized by than this sleazeball.69制片厂制作传媒
69制片厂制作传媒淓very time he takes a shot at me, I think it's good for my reputation,69制片厂制作传媒 McConnell said.
Also in 2022, McConnell said in his oral history that Trump's behavior since losing the election had been 69制片厂制作传媒渂eyond erratic69制片厂制作传媒 as he kept pushing false allegations of voter fraud. 69制片厂制作传媒淯nfortunately, about half the Republicans in the country believe whatever he says,69制片厂制作传媒 McConnell said.
By 2024, McConnell had again endorsed Trump. He felt he had to if he were to continue to play a role in shaping the nation69制片厂制作传媒檚 agenda.
69制片厂制作传媒淚t was the price he paid for power,69制片厂制作传媒 Tackett writes.
This story has been corrected to reflect that the size of the tax overhaul under Trump was $1.5 trillion, not $1.5 billion.
Commented
Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.