Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday sidestepped a question about an expletive-laced speech President Trump gave over the weekend, in which he called the Kentucky Republican a “dumb son of a b****” and a “stone-cold loser.”
“If that were Schumer instead of this dumb son of a b****, Mitch McConnell, they would never allow it to happen,” Trump said, according to the Washington Post, referring to the certification of the 2020 election results.
McConnell evaded a question about Trump’s remarks, which came in an off-script speech at a major Republican National Committee donor gathering on Sunday.
“What I’m concentrating on is the future,” he responded. “What we are confronted with here is a totally left-wing administration with a slight majority in the House, a 50-50 Senate, trying to transform America into something no one voted for last year.”
Trump’s recent insults come after months of back and forth between the two Republicans. Tension began brewing after McConnell told the former president in December that he had recognized Biden as the president-elect. McConnell has said he has not spoken with Trump since.
The pair clashed when McConnell called Trump’s actions leading up to the January 6 Capitol riots “a disgraceful dereliction of duty.” Though the GOP leader voted to acquit Trump on an article of impeachment accusing him of inciting an insurrection, he said the former president was “practically and morally responsible for provoking” the Capitol riot.
However, on Tuesday Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R., S.D.) said McConnell wants the feud to end.
“Right now, it’s sort of a one-sided thing,” Thune said, according to The Hill. “The leader has no animosity and he’s made it very clear he wants to work with the president to get the majority back.”
“I wish he wouldn’t do it, but I don’t think there’s any way that you could change how he does things,” Thune said of Trump’s comments. “I think we just have to adapt the best we can and stay focused on what are our objectives and that’s get the [Senate] majority back in 2022.”