The president slammed former Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., calling him “not equipped mentally” for going from representing the GOP in the Senate to voting with the Democrats on Trump’s important Cabinet nominations and even opposing his own conference in a span of months.
“In my view, he wasn’t mentally prepared ten years ago,” Trump told reporters at the White House following McConnell’s refusal to support the confirmation of his contentious nomination for the position of Health and Human Services (HHS), Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“He’s a, you know, very bitter guy,” Trump said, referring to McConnell, with whom he has maintained a hostile relationship throughout the years, even during his last administration.
Despite the apparent disorientation caused by the transition from GOP leader to rebellious Republican, Jim Manley, who had previously served as a communications strategist and spokesperson for former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and the Senate Democratic Caucus, was not surprised by the switch.
He told Fox News Digital that McConnell was “living on borrowed time” for the past few years. According to Manley, he would have had a much harder time being re-elected if he hadn’t willingly opted to stand away from leadership before the 119th Congress. According to him, “[I]t’s evident just how exactly out of step he is with the caucus,” who have grown “much more conservative.”
In the past three weeks, McConnell has gone against his party’s wishes in three critical Senate votes involving Trump’s most precarious Cabinet choices. The nomination of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was approved by a hair’s breadth of a hair, 51-50, with the intervention of Vice President JD Vance serving to break the deadlock.
In his vote against the contentious defense nominee, he was joined by moderate Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
Yet, out of all the Republicans that voted against Tulsi Gabbard and her nomination for director of national intelligence (DNI), as well as HHS candidate Anthony Kennedy, McConnell was the lone dissenting voice. Collins, Murkowski, and a handful of other senators who are known to be a little reticent all rallied behind them.
“If Senator McConnell was looking to accelerate the deterioration of his legacy as the former Republican Senate leader, he’s succeeded,” a source from the Senate GOP said. They said the Republican from Kentucky’s behavior was “an attempt to embarrass the president and the Republican Party” and proof “of why he was no longer fit to lead our conference.”
With each vote, McConnell issued a long statement outlining his rationale. In addition, he promised to work with them and wished them luck.
Although he chairs the Senate Committee on Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, McConnell, a defense hawk, was not convinced that Hegseth or Gabbard were the most qualified candidates for the position of national security chairs.
Despite Kennedy’s continuous criticism of vaccinations, McConnell recalled his own childhood experience with polio and praised their efficacy in relation to the now-HHS secretary.
Although they were less well-known and contentious, McConnell did cast a vote in favor of Trump’s other Cabinet selections.
The previous leader was described by Republican strategist Matt Dole as “an enigma.”
“[H]e sought to rule the Republican Caucus with an iron fist when he was leader,” said the senator.
“That makes his own, lonely, votes stand out as all the more egregious.”
In response to the “no” votes, McConnell’s replacement, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., spoke with Fox News Digital. “I think he knows better than anybody how hard it is to lead a place like the United States Senate, where it takes 60 votes to get most things done, and that you got to have everybody, sort of functioning as a team,” according to him.
Thune said McConnell “is still active up here and still a strong voice on issues he’s passionate about, including national security, and so when it comes to those issues, he has outsized influence and a voice that we all pay attention to.”
I know that there’s a lot of major stuff ahead of us, and he’ll be with us,” he said, adding that even while the conference doesn’t always agree with him, they respect his stance on these appointments. A true team player, he is.
The former leader has “nothing to lose” right now, according to a former top Republican strategist in the Senate. According to them, he is mirroring the sentiments of several other senators when it comes to Trump’s most contentious appointees. Unfortunately, they are unable to challenge the nominees “for fear of retribution by Trump or primary voters that will make a difference on whether or not they remain in power.”
“Not being in leadership can be quite liberating,” observed GOP strategist John Feehery.
Grant Reeher, a professor of political science at Syracuse University, stated, “I think he wants to make a symbolic statement in favor of an older Reagan-era type of conservatism and a more traditional Republican Party—this is the way he wants to be remembered.”
In an interview with Fox News Digital, McConnell’s staff chose not to respond.