Former President Donald Trump told the authors of an upcoming book that Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell’s refusal to play along with his false claim that the 2020 presidential election was rigged is the reason he is no longer in office. the White House.
In an excerpt from the new book. this will not happen obtained by punch newsTrump told authors Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns that “if Mitch had stayed with a lot of party members who knew the election was rigged, I think we wouldn’t be at Mar-a-Lago.”
“We would be in the White House having this conversation,” he added.
Trump has long had a cool relationship with the Senate Minority Leader, who said Trump was “practically and morally responsible for provoking the events” of the Jan. 6 Capitol riots.
McConnell, however, voted against removing Trump from office and vowed to support him if he gets the GOP nominee back for president in 2024.
McConnell was not alone among senior Republicans in his disillusionment with Trump following the events of January 6.
In audio of a phone call obtained by Martin and Burns, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy said he would ask Trump to resign.
Despite an effort to stop the certification of electoral votes for Biden in states like Pennsylvania and Arizona, only eight Republican senators ultimately voted to object to the certification of any electoral votes.
Ultimately, however, Trump’s political fortunes rebounded from that low point. He survived a second impeachment attempt and has continued to maintain a firm grip on the GOP, to the point that he is the clear favorite for the party’s presidential nomination should he choose to run again.
In the past year, McConnell and Trump have continued to butt heads. Trump criticized McConnell for voting for President Biden’s infrastructure bill last year, asking in a statement “why old crow Mitch McConnell voted for a terrible Democrat Socialist Infrastructure Plan and led others into his Party to do the same thing, when he was unable to get a big Infrastructure Plan that he wants to put forward by me and the GOP?”
The pair have also been at odds over their preferred candidates in several high-profile Senate races, with McConnell failing to convince several high-profile targets including New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu and Arizona Governor Doug Ducey. , for them to show up.