Mitch McConnell on Donald Trump: We're looking to the 'future,' not 'the past'

WASHINGTON – That Mitch McConnell-Donald Trump feud is still happening.

The Senate Republican leader, dismissed last month as "a dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack" by Trump, made clear Wednesday he did not watch the former president's comeback speech on Sunday – and does not agree with Trump's suggestion that the party should "get rid" of GOP lawmakers who backed impeachment.

“We're dealing with the present and the future, not looking back to the past," McConnell told Fox News.

The back-and-forth between the ex-president and the Senate's most powerful Republican underscores GOP turmoil as they look to regain control of Congress in next year's elections and win back the White House in 2024.

More: At CPAC, Donald Trump targets the Republican Party of Liz Cheney and Mitch McConnell

Trump and McConnell have clashed over the latter's assertion that the president's false claims of election fraud provoked the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U. S. Capitol, the subject of Trump's second impeachment.

In his speech Sunday to the Conservative Political Action Conference, Trump called on supporters to oppose the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach him, and the seven GOP senators who voted to convict him.

"Get rid of them all," he said.

"We want Republican leaders who are loyal to the voters and who will work proudly for the vision that I've laid out," Trump also told CPAC delegates during his speech in Orlando, Florida.

Only one of the Senate Republican impeachers – Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska – is planning to be on a ballot in 2022.

In his Fox interview on Wednesday, McConnell said "absolutely we support Sen. Murkowski," and dismissed the complaints about impeachment during Trump's speech.

"Well, I didn't watch it," McConnell said.

Trump did not attack directly McConnell in the speech – the Kentucky Republican voted to acquit Trump, after all – but he did claim his endorsement carried McConnell to victor... (Read more)

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