On Monday (January 9), former President Donald Trump called on Republicans to pursue primary challenges against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY.) and the Senators who vote with him.
Taking to Truth Social, Trump began his post by congratulating House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA.) on his win of the Speakership vote before turning his attention to McConnell and calling on Republicans to “stop” the Senate Minority Leader.
Trump suggested McConnell “doesn’t care anymore,” claiming the Kentucky Republican “pushes through anything the Democrats want,” referencing the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending package as an example.
Trump emphasized that the bill included “Zero for USA Border Security,” asserting that had McConnell waited ten days, “the now ‘United Republican Congress’ could have made it MUCH BETTER, or KILLED IT.”
Trump added that “Something is wrong” with McConnell and Republican Senators voting with him. He then declared, “PRIMARY THEM ALL!!!”
McConnell has been receiving Trump’s indignation since February 2021, when he called out the former President’s conduct in the January 6 Capitol riot.
Since then, Trump has repeatedly called for primary challengers to McConnell and, at one point, tried to get Senator Rick Scott (R-Fla.) to replace McConnell as the Republican Senate Leader.
At that time, Trump still believed that Scott would take over from McConnell as Majority Leader after his endorsements won their midterms.
Yet, several of his Senate endorsements lost, keeping Republicans in the minority.
Blunders like this have caused more Republicans to be vocal about their criticism of Trump and less likely to heed his calls.
