Drew Angerer/Getty Images, Joe Maiorana/AP Photo
- Trump has escalated his feud with Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell.
- He claimed that the Republican Party was "furious" with McConnell.
- Trump said that the party would have to "do something" about McConnell, whom he labeled "bad news."
Former President Donald Trump on Thursday lashed out once again at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
During an appearance on the conservative medial channel Real America's Voice, Trump was asked to respond to McConnell's hint in August that the GOP might not win the Senate because of the quality of Trump-backed candidates.
"He's such a negative for the party," Trump said, adding that he was "embarrassed" by McConnell.
"I would've run somebody against him in the primary. But, who would've known that he turned out so bad? And I was never a big fan, but he turned out bad," the former president said.
Trump also alluded again to the idea that he wanted to replace McConnell as Senate GOP leader.
"He's not good, and we're gonna go through him, and then we'll have to do something, later on, we'll have to do something with him," Trump said.
"The party is furious at him. We have to put up with him for a period of time, but eventually, he'll be gone," Trump added. "He's bad news."
A representative at Trump's post-presidential press office and representatives for McConnell did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.
Trump's comments came the same day that Sen. Rick Scott of Florida revived his ongoing rivalry with McConnell for criticizing the GOP's "candidate quality."
Scott said he had a "strategic disagreement" with McConnell during an interview with Politico that was published on Thursday. Scott also wrote in an op-ed in the Washington Examiner that the idea of "trash-talking" GOP candidates was "an amazing act of cowardice" and "treasonous to the conservative cause."
Trump, too, has rebuked McConnell for questioning the quality of the GOP candidates he's backed, calling him a "pawn for the Democrats" and calling for him to be replaced as GOP leader.
The origins of the McConnell-Trump feud date back to February 2021, when McConnell rebuked Trump for his "disgraceful dereliction of duty" during the Capitol riot. Since then, Trump repeatedly attacked McConnell.
In November, Trump slammed McConnell and other Republicans who backed President Joe Biden's infrastructure bill, calling them "RINOs," an acronym for Republicans In Name Only. Trump has also called McConnell an "Old Crow" on several occasions and accused the latter of "jeopardizing" other Republican senators' reelection chances.
In February, McConnell shrugged off rumors that Trump might succeed in an attempt to oust him as majority leader if the GOP were to take the Senate in the November midterms. The comments came after Trump called McConnell a "loser" for defending GOP Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota, who had contradicted Trump's voter fraud claims.
Last month, Trump also called McConnell's wife, former Transport Secretary Elaine Chao, "crazy" and "coco" in several Truth Social posts. McConnell, however, did not react to Trump's insult, saying he had "no" response to the criticism.
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