WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� said after the 2020 election that then-President Donald Trump was 鈥渟tupid as well as being ill-tempered," a 鈥渄espicable human being" and a 鈥渘arcissist,鈥� according to excerpts from a new biography of the Senate Republican leader that will be released this month.
McConnell made the remarks in private as part of a series of personal oral histories that he made available to Michael Tackett, deputy Washington bureau chief of The Associated Press. Tackett鈥檚 book, 鈥淭he Price of Power,鈥� draws from almost three decades of McConnell鈥檚 recorded diaries and from years of interviews with the normally reticent Kentucky Republican.
The animosity between Trump and McConnell is well known 鈥� Trump once called McConnell " ." But McConnell's private comments are by far his most brutal assessment of the former president and could be seized on by Democrats before the Nov. 5 election. The biography will be released Oct. 29, one week before Election Day that will decide if Trump returns to the White House.
Despite those strong words, McConnell has , saying earlier this year 鈥渋t should come as no surprise鈥� that he would support the Republican party's nominee. He in June when Trump visited GOP senators on Capitol Hill.
McConnell, 82, announced this year that as Republican leader after the election but stay in the Senate through the end of his term in 2026.
McConnell was 鈥榗ounting the days鈥� until Trump left office
The comments about Trump quoted in the book came in the weeks before the Trump was then actively trying to overturn his loss to Democrat Joe Biden. McConnell feared this would hurt Republicans in two Georgia runoffs and cost them the Senate majority. Democrats .
Publicly, McConnell had after the Electoral College certified the presidential vote and the senator not to challenge the results. But he did not say much else. Privately, he said in his oral history that 鈥渋t鈥檚 not just the Democrats who are counting the days鈥� until Trump left office, and that Trump鈥檚 behavior 鈥渙nly underscores the good judgment of the American people. They鈥檝e had just enough of the misrepresentations, the outright lies almost on a daily basis, and they fired him.鈥�
鈥淎nd for a narcissist like him,鈥� McConnell continued, 鈥渢hat's been really hard to take, and so his behavior since the election has been even worse, by far, than it was before, because he has no filter now at all.鈥�
Before those Georgia runoffs, McConnell said Trump is 鈥渟tupid as well as being ill-tempered and can鈥檛 even figure out where his own best interests lie.鈥�
Trump was also holding up a at the time, despite bipartisan support. 鈥淭his despicable human being,鈥� McConnell said in his oral history, 鈥渋s sitting on this package of relief that the American people desperately need.鈥�
On Jan. 6, soon after he made those comments, McConnell was holed up in a secure location with other congressional leaders, calling Vice President Mike Pence and military officials for reinforcements as Trump supporters stormed the Capitol. Once the Senate resumed debate over the certification of Biden's victory, McConnell said in a speech on the floor that 鈥渢his failed attempt to obstruct the Congress, this failed insurrection, only underscores how crucial the task before us is for our republic.鈥�
McConnell then went to his office to address his staff, some of whom had barricaded themselves in the office as rioters banged on their doors. He started to sob softly as he thanked them, Tackett writes.
鈥淵ou are my family, and I hate the fact that you had to go through this,鈥� he told them.
The next month, McConnell gave his harshest public criticism of Trump on the Senate floor, saying he was 鈥� 鈥� for the Jan. 6 attack. Still, McConnell voted to acquit Trump after House Democrats impeached him for inciting the riot.
Years of doubts and criticism
In a statement to the AP on Thursday, McConnell referenced two fellow Republican senators 鈥� JD Vance of Ohio, the vice presidential nominee, and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, both of whom are strong Trump allies after harshly criticizing him during his first run in 2016.
鈥淲hatever I may have said about President Trump pales in comparison to what JD Vance, Lindsey Graham, and others have said about him, but we are all on the same team now,鈥� McConnell said.
McConnell also had doubts about Trump from the start. Just after Trump was elected in 2016, as Congress was certifying the election, McConnell told Biden, then the outgoing vice president, that he thought Trump could be trouble, Tackett writes.
The book channels McConnell鈥檚 inner thoughts during some of the biggest moments after Trump took office, as McConnell held his tongue and as the two men repeatedly fought and made up.
In 2017, as Trump publicly criticized McConnell for the Senate's , Trump and McConnell had a heated argument on the phone. Weeks went by with no contact. Then Trump invited McConnell to the White House and called a joint news conference without telling him first. McConnell said the event went fine, and 鈥渋t鈥檚 not hard to look more knowledgeable than Donald Trump at a press conference.鈥�
After the passage of a that same year, McConnell said, 鈥淎ll of a sudden, I鈥檓 Trump鈥檚 new best friend.鈥�
He blamed Trump after House Republicans lost their majority in the 2018 midterm elections, Tackett writes. Trump 鈥漢as every characteristic you would not want a president to have,鈥� McConnell said in an oral history at the time, and was 鈥渘ot very smart, irascible, nasty.鈥�
In 2022, as Trump continued to criticize McConnell and made racist comments about his wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, McConnell told Tackett that 鈥淚 can鈥檛 think of anybody I鈥檇 rather be criticized by than this sleazeball.鈥�
鈥淓very time he takes a shot at me, I think it's good for my reputation,鈥� McConnell said.
Also in 2022, McConnell said in his oral history that Trump's behavior since losing the election had been 鈥渂eyond erratic鈥� as he kept pushing false allegations of voter fraud. 鈥淯nfortunately, about half the Republicans in the country believe whatever he says,鈥� McConnell said.
By 2024, McConnell had again endorsed Trump. He felt he had to if he were to continue to play a role in shaping the nation鈥檚 agenda.
鈥淚t was the price he paid for power,鈥� Tackett writes.
___
This story has been corrected to reflect that the size of the tax overhaul under Trump was $1.5 trillion, not $1.5 billion.
Mary Clare Jalonick, The Associated Press
