Donald Trump Claims He's The Reason This Person Just Became The Least Popular Senator
There has been no love lost between former president Donald Trump and Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell. The two politicians have long been at odds, at least since the Jan. 6th riots at the Capitol. But now, a new poll revealing that the Senate Republican leader has received a very unfavorable distinction has the would-be 2024 candidate for the top job rubbing the tension between the men into McConnell's face.
A Morning Consult Political Intelligence survey recently teased out who the most and least popular senators are during the second quarter of the year. The clear winner of the poll was Wyoming Republican John Barrasso, who scored a 70% approval rating. On the other end of the spectrum however is the Kentucky native, whose unpopularity was cringeworthy, having scored a 62% disapproval rating.
Not one to stay quiet on these matters, Trump quickly weighed in via his Truth Social platform, citing the poll result and writing, "See what I can do to people? This was an easy one!" (via Newsweek).
Donald Trump contends that Mitch McConnell is a flip flopper with his support
The latest squabble between the conservative leaders was seemingly spurred by a video of Mitch McConnell condemning the Capitol riots played during the Jan. 6 committee hearings. Speaking on the Senate floor, the lawmaker can be seen intoning, "The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people" (via Insider).
Responding to the playing of the video that made him look bad, Donald Trump had taken to Truth Social to out the senator for having previously sought out the controversial leader's support.
"Is this the same Mitch McConnell who was losing big in Kentucky, and came to the White House to BEG me for an Endorsement and help? Without me he would have lost in a landslide," Trump wrote, going on to call McConnell, "A disloyal sleaze bag!"
But the two politicians' beef goes back even further than that.
Donald Trump positioned Mitch McConnell as anti-Republican
Before Donald Trump reveled in Mitch McConnell being rated the most unpopular United States senator, and previous to his claim that although now the lawmaker is condemning him for this role in the Jan. 6th riots, the Kentucky representative came to Trump to "BEG" for his support, there was already tension between them.
Trump and McConnell squared off in February, with McConnell not giving the former president a pass on his role in the deadly riots, and Trump releasing a statement that aimed to put distance between the minority leader and conservative voters.
In his remarks, the likely 2024 candidate for the top job in the land said that the Kentucky lawmaker "does not speak for the Republican Party and does not represent the views of the vast majority of its voters." Trump went on to declare that McConnell stood by during "the most fraudulent election in American history" (via NPR).
Meanwhile, it seems McConnell is not courting any favor with politicians on the other side of the aisle either, having attacked Democrats and President Joe Biden over inflation via his Twitter frequently in recent days and weeks.