Former President Donald Trump flashed his frustration with the Republican leadership on his Truth Social account yesterday, lashing out at McConnell’s support of a stopgap spending measure that would temporarily keep the government funded.
“Is McConnell approving all of these Trillions of Dollars worth of Democrat sponsored Bills, without even the slightest bit of negotiation,” he asked, “because he hates Donald J. Trump, and he knows I am strongly opposed to them, or is he doing it because he believes in the Fake and Highly Destructive Green New Deal, and is willing to take the Country down with him?”
As if that wasn’t enough, he concluded with a highly controversial series of statements. “In any event,” he continued, “either reason is unacceptable. He has a DEATH WISH. Must immediately seek help and advise from his China loving wife, Coco Chow!”
Trump’s statement drew criticism from the left and right over what they say as a “death threat” against the Senate Minority Leader, and for what many called a “racist” attack on his wife, Elaine Chao – who served as Trump’s Secretary of Transportation.
The Washington Post noted the “increasingly strained” relationship between the politicians.
The post marked a further escalation in an increasingly strained relationship between the two Republican leaders. Trump has repeatedly impugned McConnell’s negotiating positions and called on GOP senators to replace him as their leader. They often had a tense working relationship during Trump’s presidency and fell out in the aftermath of the 2020 election, when Trump refused to concede and tried to overturn the results, and the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
McConnell’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday.
A Trump spokesman said it was “absurd” to interpret the post as a threat or call for violence, suggesting the reference to a death wish was “political” rather than literal.
A reignited and public feud could not come at a worse time for Republicans. The post frustrates many in the GOP who are growing positive about the party’s chances in November once again as the polling starts trending in their favor once more. While many in the Republican Party are looking for unity, continued spats between the pro-Trump and more moderate wings of the party shift the focus away from winning messages.
But while McConnell is rallying support for continuing resolutions, his Senate Leadership Fund has been financially supporting many candidates across the country, including those who previously touted their support for Trump – and who previously said they would vote to replace McConnell as their leader in the Senate.
Meanwhile, Trump’s own PAC, Save America, recently announced it would shift money to a new group, MAGA Inc., which would also start to fund those same candidates. Thus far, however, money has yet to appear. And in the final stretch of the campaigns, that money is badly needed.
McConnell is likely to not respond to Trump’s attack directly. But Trump and his allies need the GOP – and, particularly, Trump’s favored candidates – to win big in November for Trump’s future with the party to be safe.