CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked the president about McConnell’s decision to vote against his nominees. Trump responded by claiming McConnell let the Republican party “go to hell” adding that he felt “sorry” for him.
“Well I feel sorry for Mitch,” Trump told Collins. “He’s not equipped mentally. He wasn’t equipped ten years ago mentally in my opinion. He’d let the Republican Party go to hell. If I didn’t come along, the Republican Party wouldn’t even exist right now.”
Moreover, McConnell cited his polio diagnosis during his childhood as one of the reasons he voted against Kennedy. The senator stated that Kennedy has “a record of trafficking in dangerous conspiracy theories and eroding trust in public health institutions.” When Collins mentioned this reasoning to Trump, the president questioned if the Kentucky senator ever had the disease.
COLLINS: He had polio, obviously.
TRUMP: I don’t know. I don’t know anything about [if] he had polio — he had polio.
COLLINS: Are you doubting he had polio?
TRUMP: I have no idea if he had polio. All I can tell you about him is that he shouldn’t have been a leader. He knows that. He voted against Bobby, votes against almost everything. He’s a, you know, very bitter guy. And we we have a very strong party. And he’s almost not even really a very powerful member.
And I’d say he’s not a power– he’s lost his power and it’s affected his vote. And, you know, it’s one of those things. But in the meantime, Bobby did great, got more votes than anybody thought. And I think he’s going to do phenomenally, just phenomenally in that position.
