Mitch McConnell Takes Swipe at Donald Trump for the Second Time in Days
The senator doubled down on his criticism of the president-elect in a new interview.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Senator Mitch McConnell has taken another swipe at President-elect Donald Trump a mere few days after warning the nation “will not be made great again” under his leadership.
In an interview with the Financial Times published Wednesday, the Kentucky senator voiced his concerns over the global political landscape closely resembling that at the beginning of World War II.
“We’re in a very, very dangerous world right now, reminiscent of before World War II,” McConnell shared. “Even the slogan is the same. ‘America First.’ That was what they said in the ’30s.”
A critic of isolationism, McConnell went on to rebuke Trump and vice-president-elect JD Vance’s argument on cutting American aid to Ukraine, opting for a more Ronald Reagan-style approach to the U.S.’s place in global politics.
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) arrives for a news conference following the weekly Senate Republican policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol on November 19, 2024 in Washington, DC.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
“To most American voters, I think the simple answer is, ‘Let’s stay out of it,’” McConnell said. “That was the argument made in the ’30s and that just won’t work.
“Thanks to Reagan, we know what does work—not just saying peace through strength, but demonstrating it,” he continued.
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McConnell went on to argue that the “cost of deterrence is considerably less than the cost of war” while praising former U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower’s “view of America’s role in the world.”
On Saturday, McConnell took a swipe at Trump during a speech at the Reagan National Defense Forum where he received a “standing ovation” per Politico. “Within the party Ronald Reagan once led so capably, it is increasingly fashionable to suggest that the sort of global leadership he modeled is no longer America’s place,” McConnell said Saturday night.
“But let’s be absolutely clear: America will not be made great again by those who are content to manage our decline,” he added, referring to Trump’s slogan.
The 82-year-old senator received medical attention on Tuesday after falling during a lunch with colleagues at the Capitol. “He sustained a minor cut to the face and sprained his wrist,” according to a statement from an aide.
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