Trump launches fresh attack on ‘pawn’ Mitch McConnell and calls for new GOP Senate leader

‘A new Republican Leader in the Senate should be picked immediately,’ Trump claims

Donald Trump has fired off a fresh salvo in his war of words with Mitch McConnell, calling the Republican Senate leader a “pawn” who must be replaced “immediately”.

“Mitch McConnell is not an Opposition Leader, he is a pawn for the Democrats to get whatever they want,” the former president said in a post to Truth Social.

“He is afraid of them, and will not to what has to be done. A new Republican Leader in the Senate should be picked immediately.”

Mr Trump’s latest attack on the Senate majority leader began at the weekend when he called Mr McConnell a “broken down hack politician” on Truth Social.

He also used derogatory language to insult Mr McConnell’s wife and former transportation secretary Elaine Chao, who resigned from Trump’s cabinet in protest at the January 6 assault on the US Capital.

The spat was initially stoked by Mr McConnell’s comments last week in an interview with NBC News in which he suggested the GOP’s “candidate quality” could harm the party’s chances of reclaiming the Senate in November’s midterms.

Mr Trump, who has backed several underperforming Senate candidates including Herschel Walker and Mehmet Oz, bristled at the statement.

“Why do Republicans Senators allow a broken down hack politician, Mitch McConnell, to openly disparage hard working Republican candidates for the United States Senate[?]” he wrote on Truth Social.

When asked if he had a response to Mr Trump’s statements during a visit to Kentucky on Wednesday, Mr McConnell replied “no”.

CBS News reported that Mr Trump urged Florida senator Rick Scott to unseat Mr McConnell at a meeting at Mar-a-Lago in February.