In response to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s endorsement of Donald Trump, DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd released the following statement (with some help from McConnell himself): 

“Take it from Mitch McConnell: Donald Trump is morally and practically responsible for January 6, when he fed lies to a mob that attacked our democracy. He makes outrageous and inappropriate attacks on entire ethnic groups and meets with white nationalists and antisemites. His assertion that the U.S. shouldn’t defend our democratic allies is wrong. He makes the GOP look nasty and chaotic. And his efforts to overturn the last election have totally discredited him as a candidate for president. That’s what McConnell thinks about Trump, and we couldn’t agree more.”

Mitch McConnell said Donald Trump is “practically and morally responsible” for January 6 because he “fed lies” “into the largest megaphone on planet Earth.”

C-SPAN: “Minority Leader McConnell Says President Trump ‘Practically and Morally Responsible’ for January 6 Attack on Capitol”

McConnell: “There’s no question, none, that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of [January 6]. … The people who stormed this building believed they were acting on the wishes and instructions of their president … and having that belief was a foreseeable consequence of the growing crescendo of false statements, conspiracy theories and reckless hyperbole which the defeated president kept shouting into the largest megaphone on planet Earth.”

McConnell: “The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people.”

NPR:  “McConnell rebuked Trump for his actions after the insurrection as well. ‘He did not do his job. He didn’t take steps so federal law could be faithfully executed and order restored,’ he continued. ‘No. Instead, according to public reports, he watched television happily — happily — as the chaos unfolded,’ he said. ‘Even after it was clear to any reasonable observer that Vice President Pence was in serious danger.’”

CNN: “‘The Democrats are going to take care of the son of a bitch for us,’ McConnell told two associates just days after the insurrection, referring to the effort to impeach Trump in the Democratic-led House, according to the Times’ reporters. And of Trump’s guilt, McConnell was equally clear-eyed: ‘If this isn’t impeachable, I don’t know what is,’ he said. There was even talk that McConnell himself might vote to convict Trump in a Senate impeachment trial.”

McConnell: “I feel exhilarated by the fact that this fellow finally, totally discredited himself. … [Trump] was pretty thoroughly discredited by this. … He put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger.”

Courier Journal: “McConnell criticized Trump’s suggestion that the U.S. Constitution be terminated and he be re-installed as president, saying anyone who believes that ‘would have a very hard time being sworn in as president of the United States.’”

McConnell has condemned Trump’s racist remarks – including his comment that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country.”

Politico: “McConnell chides Trump for saying immigration is ‘poisoning the blood’ of US”

“Mitch McConnell delivered a sharp retort on Tuesday to former President Donald Trump’s recent remark that immigrants are ‘poisoning the blood of our country.’”

“‘Well, it strikes me it didn’t bother him when he appointed Elaine Chao secretary of transportation,’ he replied to reporters.”

McConnell: “But his attacks on ethnic groups and fellow Republicans need to end. … I object to a whole series of things that he’s said—vehemently object to them. I think all of that needs to stop.”

McConnell has called out Trump for saying he would encourage Russia to “do whatever they want” – including attack our NATO allies.

Andrew Desiderio, Punchbowl News: “[McConnell] said this of the former president’s NATO comments over the weekend: ‘I totally disagree with him. And it was extremely unhelpful.’”

Politico: “Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stressed Thursday that he disagrees with Donald Trump’s assertion that the United States shouldn’t immediately defend NATO allies. … ‘I disagree with that,’ McConnell said. … ‘I think he’s wrong on that.’”

McConnell rebuked Trump after he rubbed shoulders with white nationalist and antisemite Nick Fuentes, hosting the Holocaust denier at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

USA Today: “A rising number of Republicans, including Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell, are denouncing Donald Trump for hosting a dinner with white nationalist and antisemitic guests – but few if any expect the former president to apologize. ‘There is no room in the Republican Party for antisemitism or white supremacy,’ said McConnell, R-Ky., a frequent antagonist of Trump. ‘And anyone meeting with people advocating that point of view, in my judgment, is highly unlikely to ever be elected president of the United States.’”

CNN: “Trump hosted Holocaust denier at Mar-a-Lago estate during visit with Kanye West, a week after announcing 2024 run”

McConnell said Trump is responsible for Republicans’ electoral failures in recent years.

NBC News: “McConnell says Trump fueled ‘candidate quality’ problems in the midterms”

 “‘We ended up having a candidate quality test,’ McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters regarding the 2022 election. ‘Look at Arizona. Look at New Hampshire. And the challenging situation in Georgia as well,’ he said, mentioning states where Trump-endorsed candidates won the primary and lost to Democrats in the general election. In a rare move, McConnell explicitly identified Trump’s influence as problematic in the key Senate races. ‘Our ability to control the primary outcome was quite limited in ‘22 because the support of the former president proved to be very decisive in these primaries.’”

NBC News: “McConnell also blamed Trump for tarnishing the party’s image among crucial independent and swing voters, who rejected GOP Senate contenders in the states that decided the majority. He said that the party underperformed in ‘every state’ — including the red state of Ohio, which Republicans narrowly won — and that its performance was ‘fatal’ in Arizona, New Hampshire and Georgia. ‘We lost support that we needed among independents and moderate Republicans, primarily related to the view they had of us as a party — largely made by the former president — that we were sort of nasty and tended toward chaos,’ McConnell said.”

New York Times: “In conversations with senators and would-be senators, Mr. McConnell is blunt about the damage he believes Mr. Trump has done to the G.O.P., according to those who have spoken to him. Privately, he has declared he won’t let unelectable ‘goofballs’ win Republican primaries. History doesn’t bode well for such behind-the-scene efforts to challenge Mr. Trump, and Mr. McConnell’s hard sell is so far yielding mixed results.”

McConnell thinks Trump is “diminished,” “nuts,” and “doesn’t know a lot about the issues” that matter to the American people.

NBC News: “McConnell calls out ‘diminished’ Trump, vows not to bow to his candidates in 2024”

New Yorker: “Behind Trump’s back McConnell has called [him] ‘nuts,’ and made clear that he considers himself smarter than Trump, and that he ‘can’t stand him.’”

McConnell: “It’s pretty obvious he doesn’t know a lot about the issues.”

The Hill: “McConnell fell out bitterly with former President Trump after the 2020 election and hasn’t spoken to him for more than three years.”