Mitch McConnell Puts Trump on Blast: He’s Retired and is a “Fading Brand”

BY Todd Neikirk September 23, 2021

Plenty of very prominent GOP lawmakers are willing to make Donald Trump the future of the party. Lindsey Graham has said that Republicans can’t possibly ‘grow’ without the former president as the leader. And Kevin McCarthy famously flew down to Florida to kiss Trump’s rings following Biden’s inauguration.

US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (L) reacts as President Donald Trump speaks to the press before a meeting with Republican Congressional leaders at the White House in Washington, DC, on September 5, 2018. (Photo by NICHOLAS KAMM / AFP) (Photo credit should read NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)

Mitch McConnell, though, has been steadfast in wanting the party to move forward without Trump. And he is even more candid in Bob Woodward and Robert Costa’s new book, Peril.

McConnell reportedly told the authors, “[Trump is] a fading brand. Retired. OTTB as they say in Kentucky — off-the-track Thoroughbred. There is a clear trend moving. Sucking up to Donald Trump is not a strategy that works.”

When asked if he saw himself butting heads with Trump, he responded, “The only place I can see Trump and me actually at loggerheads would be if he gets behind some clown who clearly can’t win. To have a chance of getting the Senate back, you have to have the most electable candidates possible.”

Trump is very likely to react negatively to the comments from McConnell. He has already furiously responded to a report that Lindsey Graham and Mike Lee felt there was little to no evidence behind his 2020 election fight.