WASHINGTON—Having retired as leader of the Republican Conference in 2024 after 18 years in the role, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has emerged as Trump’s biggest Republican detractor in the Senate.
“Mr. Kennedy failed to prove he is the best possible person to lead America’s largest health agency.”
Though McConnell has supported other cabinet nominees this term, Trump criticized his recent votes against Kennedy, Gabbard, and Hegseth.
“I feel very sorry for Mitch ... he’s not equipped mentally,” Trump said on Feb. 13 after the vote on Kennedy’s nomination. “He let the Republican Party go to hell. ... He raised a lot of money and gave it to senators, and so he had a little loyalty based on [that] fact.”
Trump also said that he forced McConnell to retire from the Senate Republican Conference’s leadership position, citing that as the reason for McConnell’s opposition.
“He’s not voting against Bobby [Kennedy], he’s voting against me ... he votes against almost everything now,” Trump said.
McConnell endorsed Trump in the 2016 presidential election, after which he worked with him to pass conservative legislation, chiefly the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, and to confirm conservative jurists to federal courts. Still, McConnell declined to align with Trump’s demands on one key issue—the Senate’s “cloture” requirement that 60 votes be needed to limit debate and pass a bill, overcoming a filibuster.
“President Trump claims the election was stolen. The assertions range ... to sweeping conspiracy theories,” McConnell said on the Senate floor on Jan. 6, 2021. “Nothing before us proves illegality anywhere near the massive scale ... that would have tipped the entire election. Nor can public doubt alone justify a radical break, when the doubt itself was incited without any evidence.”
McConnell declined to cooperate with Trump’s request that Congress act to prevent the certification of Biden’s victory.
McConnell later said Trump was “morally responsible” for the events of that day, when protesters breached the U.S. Capitol and disrupted the certification of Biden’s victory. However, he later voted to acquit Trump in the ensuing impeachment trial against the outgoing president on the charge of inciting an insurrection on that day.
Following his retirement as leader on Jan. 3, McConnell has taken on a lower-profile role in the Senate. He became chairman of the Rules Committee, a role he’s held twice before, which deals with administrative and constitutional matters concerning the Senate. Most recently, he was spotted by The Epoch Times in a wheelchair after falling while walking around the Capitol building.
McConnell has experienced a series of public health episodes that have raised questions about his fitness to serve. In 2023, he froze twice during public press conferences while speaking, prompting him to be escorted away by colleagues and the U.S. Capitol Police. He has also fallen three times in public—twice in 2023 and a third time on Dec. 10, 2024, resulting in injuries.
McConnell’s seventh term will end on Jan. 3, 2027. It remains unclear whether he will run for reelection, though it is unlikely that he will get Trump’s endorsement.
“I know the politics within my party at this particular moment in time. I have many faults. Misunderstanding politics is not one of them,” McConnell said as he announced his retirement as leader in February 2024. “I still have enough gas in my tank to thoroughly disappoint my critics, and I intend to do so with all the enthusiasm to which they’ve become accustomed.”
A spokesperson for McConnell’s office referred The Epoch Times to the senator’s website in response to a request for comment.
