Trump says Congress should ‘impeach’ Mitch McConnell over debt ceiling, regrets endorsement

WASHINGTON — Former President Trump said Thursday that the Senate should “impeach” Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and that he regrets endorsing the top Republican for re-election in 2020.

“I made a mistake, I endorsed him,” Trump said in an interview on the news and entertainment network Real America’s Voice. “He came to me — he was so nice to me and asked for my endorsement.”

“It’s crazy what’s happening with this debt ceiling. They ought to impeach Mitch McConnell,” Trump added later in the interview. “They must have something on him — how he approves this thing is incredible.”

Unlike Trump, who was impeached twice during his four years in office, senators can either be censured or expelled by a two-thirds vote. No senator has been expelled since the Civil War.

The former president was referring to another possible rise in the total amount of debt the federal government is allowed to accrue. It was last increased by $2.5 trillion to about $31.4 trillion in December of last year. The US is expected to reach the new debt limit by July 2023.

McConnell has not said what Republicans will do about the debt ceiling if they take back the Senate after the midterm elections, though he did cut a deal with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) for the December hike.

3

3

Months earlier, McConnell had warned President Biden — following a previous Senate vote on a short-term debt ceiling increase — that “I will not be a party to any future effort to mitigate the consequences of Democratic mismanagement.”

Without raising the debt ceiling, the US would likely default on its loans, lowering the country’s credit rating should legislators not find another way to reduce its debts.

Trump offered no suggestions on how to cut the debt during his Thursday interview, but was adamant that McConnell is “a bad guy who’s done a bad job.”

The attacks come about a month after Trump blasted the 80-year-old senator Oct. 1 on Truth Social, saying McConnell has a “DEATH WISH” and was “willing to take the Country down with him.”

3

Trump also referred to McConnell’s wife, former Trump Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, as “Coco Chow,” a remark many considered racist.

At the time, McConnell declined to respond to the 45th president’s accusations.

“The only time I’ve responded to the president, I think, since he left office is when he gave me my favorite nickname — Old Crow — which I considered a compliment,” the senator said last month. “And after all, it was Henry Clay’s favorite bourbon.”