President Donald Trump insulted Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and questioned his childhood battle with polio after the senator opposed anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s affirmation Thursday to be the secretary of the Division of Well being and Human Companies.
When requested by a reporter whether or not McConnell’s previous bout with polio influenced his “no” vote, Trump responded, “I have no idea if he had polio. All I can tell you about him is that he shouldn’t have been leader.”
The president added, “[McConnell’s] not voting against Bobby, he’s voting against me.” He later referred to as McConnell “a very bitter guy.”
McConnell has voted in opposition to a number of of Trump’s latest Cupboard picks, together with Tulsi Gabbard (for director of nationwide intelligence), Pete Hegseth (for secretary of protection), and Kennedy. Within the instances of Gabbard and Kennedy, McConnell was the one Republican to buck the president. With Hegseth’s vote, nonetheless, two different Republican senators—Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska—joined him in voting in opposition to Trump’s nominee.
Along with calling Trump a “despicable human being,” a “narcissist,” and “stupid” in a latest biography, McConnell has blasted Trump’s sweeping use of tariffs. He mentioned they have been “bad policy” and would elevate costs.
Trump’s “aggressive proposals leave big, lingering concerns for American industry and workers,” McConnell wrote in a Wednesday op-ed for Louisville’s Courier-Journal.
McConnell wasn’t all the time this large of a thorn in Trump’s aspect, although. Initially of Trump’s first time period, the senator helped Trump affirm a whole bunch of judges and fill three Supreme Courtroom vacancies—strikes that may form the judiciary for a technology. (Notably, in 2016, McConnell helped block Merrick Garland, whom then-President Barack Obama nominated to the Supreme Courtroom, from getting a listening to.) McConnell was additionally instrumental in Trump’s 2017 effort to go sweeping tax cuts for the rich.
Regardless of minor disagreements, the Republicans’ relationship didn’t flip icy till the assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. McConnell referred to as Trump “practically and morally responsible” for the riot, however finally, he didn’t vote to convict the president.
The 2 additionally squabbled over the celebration’s failure to repeal the Reasonably priced Care Act throughout Trump’s first administration. (Extra just lately, McConnell mentioned the repeal effort in opposition to the legislation appears “largely over.”) They usually have traded a fair proportion of nasty private assaults. Regardless of this, McConnell nonetheless endorsed Trump’s reelection bid.
McConnell, who will flip 83 this month, is up for reelection in 2026, but it surely’s unclear whether or not he’ll run once more. He’s suffered a sequence of falls as of late, together with two final week. A spokesperson for the senator instructed that “the lingering effects of polio in his left leg” contributed to it, however mentioned the autumn wouldn’t disrupt McConnell’s “regular schedule of work.”
It is sensible, then, that McConnell would vote in opposition to Kennedy, an alleged animal abuser with a historical past of attacking vaccination and selling bogus conspiracy theories. Shortly after his affirmation, Kennedy appeared on Fox Information and confirmed there have been plans to chop the variety of HHS staff. Notably, Kennedy mentioned those that have been “involved in good science” (no matter which means!) have “nothing to worry about.”
“If you care about public health, you’ve got nothing to worry about. If you’re in there working for the pharmaceutical industry, then I should say you should move out and work for the pharmaceutical industry,” he mentioned.
On Thursday, Trump questioned McConnell’s psychological acuity and mentioned “he’s not equipped” to guide the GOP. That is the Trump means: viciously assault anybody who doesn’t do your bidding, no matter how they’ve helped you previously. It’s additionally a basic authoritarian tactic, and provided that Trump is a petty narcissist, it’s not stunning that he’s going after McConnell.
That mentioned, McConnell doesn’t deserve a pat on the again for voting in opposition to only a handful of Trump’s terrible nominees. The senator’s pushback is not only politically handy—he’s now not Senate majority chief—but it surely additionally comes far too late within the sport.
Perhaps McConnell feels responsible for elevating Trump and is voting in opposition to the Cupboard picks as a solution to make up for his previous transgressions. Both means, given how a lot he helped Trump to get to the place he’s now, he’s simply as complicit within the downfall of American democracy.
McConnell doesn’t get a go.
