Donald Trump slaps Republican legislator Mitch McConnell, who has blamed the former U.S. president for the Capitol unrest.
In the latest example of a growing movement in the U.S. Republican Party after Donald Trump’s impeachment, former U.S. president Tuesday came out to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
“Mitch is a staunch, sullen, and unsolved political hack, and if Republican Senators are going to stay with him, they will not win again,” Trump said in a statement.
McConnell voted Feb. 13 to get the former president in a U.S. Senate impeachment lawsuit in which Trump was accused of inciting a bunch of his supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
In the end, the Senate did not have enough votes to condemn Trump for “inciting revolution”.
U.S. Senate Minority Languages President Mitch McConnell voted to get the former president to incite a January 6 revolution, when a pro-Trump mob blocked the U.S. capital, when five died. [Al Drago/Reuters]
But in a post-vote speech, McConnell, a once staunch supporter of the former president, made an unparalleled plea of Trump, blaming him for the uprising. left five dead.
“There is no question that President Trump has a practical and moral responsibility to promote the events of that day,” McConnell said from the Senate floor.
“The people who stormed this building thought they were acting in accordance with the wishes and instructions of their president.”
McConnell’s speech, coupled with the fact that seven Republican senators voted to condemn Trump, has revealed that some Republican lawmakers are urging the party to start at a distance from Trump.
But the former Republican president is still holding on to the party and his supporters – including several Republican legislators in Congress – remain firmly behind him.
“The Republican Party can no longer be respected or strong with political ‘leaders’ like Sen. Mitch McConnell at the helm, ”Trump said in a statement Tuesday.
He also said he would bring back “key Republican rivals who will rebuild Great America and our American policy first”.
Former US President Donald Trump revealed Tuesday that he lamented his inability to drag him over to lose the Republican party [File: Jim Bourg/Reuters]
Al Jazeera’s John Hendren, reporting from Wisconsin, described Trump’s statement as “a blistering manifestation of civil war within the Republican Party”.
Trump is not giving McConnell’s urgent speech after the Senate impeachment lawsuit lightly, Hendren said.
“He attacks Mitch McConnell and basically says, he is on one side of the Republican Party, the rest of the Republican Party is on the middle side. And it is indeed declaring war on that side of the party. “
Republican lawmakers have resisted criticism from their state Republican parties over their support for attacking Trump.
Republican leaders in North Carolina voted to fine General Richard Burr over his vote to condemn Trump during the Senate lawsuit.
The Louisiana Republican Party voted Saturday to crucify General Bill Cassidy, while Republican Party leaders in Pennsylvania and Maine also prepare to question Senators Pat Toomey and Susan Collins, respectively, for their votes condemned.
But there is little sign that McConnell will back down criticized about Trump.
In an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal newspaper published Monday, Republican leader Trump once again shook out “the unspoken lies he shouted into the world’s largest megaphone” ahead of the Capitol riot.
“His behavior during and after the riot was also unbelievable, from attacking Vice President Mike Pence during the riot to praising the criminals after it ended, ”Wrote McConnell.