Speaking out after Senator Mitch McConnell, the longtime leader of the Republican Caucus in the Senate, both as Senate Majority and MInority Leader, refused to back Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for the Director of Health and Human Services position, President Donald Trump slammed McConnell as not being mentally equipped for the role.
That came when President Trump spoke to reporters in the Oval Office in the afternoon of Thursday, February 13, and commented on the news that Senator McConnell wasn’t just refusing to back Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s now-confirmed Director of National Intelligence, but also the very popular RFK Jr.
Commenting on that decision from Sen. McConnell, Trump slammed him as not being mentally capable now and perhaps even not having the right level of cognitive health a decade ago. He said, “I feel sorry for Mitch… He wanted to go to the end and he wanted to stay leader. He’s not equipped mentally, he wasn’t equipped 10 years ago mentally in my opinion.”
Then, saying that McConnell had let the Republican Party “go to hell,” Trump argued that his 2016 run had saved the GOP from McConnell and people like him. He said, “If I didn’t come along, the Republican party wouldn’t even exist right now.” Continuing on that point, he added, “Mitch McConnell never really had it. He had an ability to raise money because of his position as leader, which anybody could do.”
Further, Trump commented on what he did to McConnell that might be the real reason for McConnell’s anger, saying, “I was the one that got him to drop out of the leadership position, so he can’t love me… He’s not voting against Bobby [Kennedy], he’s voting against me. He’s a very bitter guy. But we have a very strong party, and he’s lost his power. It’s affected his vote.
Trump also responded, later on, to comments McConnell made about the polio vaccine and why he refused to support RFK Jr. McConnell said, “In my lifetime, I’ve watched vaccines save millions of lives from devastating diseases across America and around the world. I will not condone the re-litigation of proven cures, and neither will millions of Americans who credit their survival and quality of life to scientific miracles.” Trump said, “I don’t know anything about he had polio. He shouldn’t have been leader, he knows that.” Watch him here:
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McConnell, refusing to back Gabbard, said, in part, “Entrusting the coordination of the intelligence community to someone who struggles to acknowledge these facts is an unnecessary risk. So is empowering a DNI who only acknowledged the value of critical intelligence collection authorities when her nomination appeared to be in jeopardy.”
Concluding, he said, “Beginning today, the brave men and women of America’s intelligence community will turn to Director Gabbard for principled leadership and sounder judgment in the service of America’s interests and national security. I join all of them in hoping that she rises to the immense responsibilities of her office.”