Sen. Mike Lee is calling on candidates running for Senate GOP leadership to weigh in on Mitch McConnell’s recent remarks against Donald Trump, which included him referring to the former president as a “sleazeball,” “narcissist” and “stupid as well as being ill-tempered.”
“Those running for Senate GOP leadership posts need to weigh in on this & commit never to sabotage Republican candidates & colleagues — particularly those who are less than two weeks away from a close election,” Lee (R-Utah) wrote in a series of posts on X.
Lee called McConnell’s criticism of Trump, as well as Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), “indefensible.” He was referring to remarks McConnell made in a new sweeping biography, out later this month. It’s not the first time the GOP leader has criticized the former president, who he is nevertheless supporting as the party’s nominee in November. But it is some of his most scathing commentary to date.
Meanwhile, McConnell criticized Scott’s tenure as chair of the Senate GOP campaign arm, saying he did a “poor job of running” it. McConnell isn’t the only Senate Republican who has complained about Scott’s handling of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
Scott and McConnell have repeatedly found themselves at odds: The Floridian unsuccessfully challenged McConnell for the top GOP leadership spot in 2022 and is running again, this time against GOP Whip John Thune (S.D.) and Sen. John Cornyn (Texas), a former whip. Scott’s bid is viewed on the Hill as the most unlikely of the three to succeed, though he has some supporters, including Lee.
Scott, in a statement on Thursday, said that he was “shocked that [McConnell] would attack a fellow Republican senator and the Republican nominee for president just two weeks out from an election.”
For his part, Thune said, in a statement to POLITICO, “Donald Trump will be the next president of the United States, which is why I’m focused on electing a strong Senate Republican majority that can hit the ground running.”
As for Lee, the Utah Republican hasn’t shied away from criticizing leadership during his time in the Senate. And while he isn’t running for the top leadership spot, he has been one of the most outspoken proponents for overhauling the conference’s rules and decentralizing power throughout the conference.
That has put him at odds with other GOP senators, like Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who have warned that the conservative-favored proposals would handicap their next leader.
