• Economy
  • Editor’s Pick
Money Rise Today – Investing and Stock News
  • Investing
  • Stock
Editor's Pick

McConnell’s mental acuity targeted by Trump after ex-Senate leader joins Dems against Cabinet nominees

by February 16, 2025
written by February 16, 2025

President Donald Trump derided former Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., as ‘not equipped mentally’ after he went from being the face of the GOP in the upper chamber to opposing his entire conference and voting with the Democrats on Trump’s key Cabinet nominations in just a matter of months. 

‘He wasn’t equipped ten years ago, mentally, in my opinion,’ Trump told reporters at the White House after McConnell refused to vote in favor of confirming his controversial Health and Human Services (HHS) pick, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 

‘He’s a, you know, very bitter guy,’ Trump added of McConnell, with whom he has had a strained relationship with over the years, including during his previous presidency. 

While such a shift from GOP leader to defiant Republican might be optically jarring, the move was unsurprising to Jim Manley, former senior communications advisor and spokesman for former Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and the Senate Democratic Caucus. 

‘He was living on borrowed time the last couple of years,’ he told Fox News Digital of McConnell. Manley speculated that if he hadn’t decided to step down from leadership voluntarily before the 119th Congress, he would have had significant trouble being re-elected. ‘[I]t’s evident just how exactly out of step he is with the caucus,’ he said, noting that it has become ‘much more conservative.’

In three pivotal Senate votes on Trump’s most vulnerable Cabinet nominees in the last few weeks, McConnell bucked his party. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s nomination was confirmed by a razor-thin margin, 51-50, after Vice President JD Vance was called in to break the tie. 

Moderate GOP Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, joined him in voting against the controversial defense pick.

However, McConnell was the only Republican to vote against the similarly controversial Director of National Intelligence (DNI) nominee Tulsi Gabbard and HHS pick Kennedy. Even Collins, Murkowski, and several other senators with reputations for being somewhat hesitant got behind them.

‘If Senator McConnell was looking to accelerate the deterioration of his legacy as the former Republican Senate leader, he’s succeeded,’ a Senate GOP source remarked. They described the Kentucky Republican’s actions as ‘an attempt to embarrass the president and the Republican Party’ and evidence ‘of why he was no longer fit to lead our conference.’ 

McConnell released lengthy statements following each vote, explaining his reasoning. He also wished each of them well and committed to working with them.

A defense hawk and chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, McConnell was unconvinced that Hegseth or Gabbard were the best national security selections. 

As for Kennedy, McConnell recalled his childhood experience with polio and touted the effectiveness of vaccines, of which the now-HHS secretary has been consistently critical. 

McConnell did vote in favor of Trump’s other, less-controversial and lesser-known Cabinet nominees. 

Republican strategist Matt Dole called the former leader ‘an enigma.’ 

‘[H]e sought to rule the Republican Caucus with an iron fist when he was leader,’ he pointed out. 

‘That makes his own, lonely, votes stand out as all the more egregious.’

McConnell’s successor, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., reacted to the ‘no’ votes in an interview with Fox News Digital. ‘I think he knows better than anybody how hard it is to lead a place like the United States Senate, where it takes 60 votes to get most things done, and that you got to have everybody, sort of functioning as a team,’ he said. 

According to Thune, McConnell ‘is still active up here and still a strong voice on issues he’s passionate about, including national security, and so when it comes to those issues, he has outsized influence and a voice that we all pay attention to.’

He explained that while the conference doesn’t necessarily agree with him, ‘we respect his positions on these, some of these [nominations], and I know that a lot of big stuff ahead of us, he’s going to be with us. He’s a team player.’

One former top Senate Republican strategist explained the former leader has ‘nothing to lose’ at this point. In fact, they said, the feelings he is expressing about Trump’s most controversial selections actually reflects those of a number of other senators. But they can’t oppose the picks themselves ‘for fear of retribution by Trump or primary voters that will make a difference on whether or not they remain in power.’

‘Not being in leadership can be quite liberating,’ GOP strategist John Feehery added. 

According to Grant Reeher, a political science professor at Syracuse University, ‘I think he wants to make a symbolic statement in favor of an older Reagan-era type of conservatism and a more traditional Republican Party—this is the way he wants to be remembered.’

McConnell’s office declined to comment to Fox News Digital.

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS
0 comment
0
FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail

previous post
Emmanuel Macron calls ’emergency meeting’ for European leaders to discuss Trump: report
next post
Denny’s set to close dozens more locations this year, though some openings planned too

related articles

Hunter Biden seen driving Toyota rental in South...

May 31, 2025

Trump tariff plan faces uncertain future as court...

May 31, 2025

Musk confident DOGE will save $1 trillion as...

May 30, 2025

Who will be Elon’s successor? The top names...

May 30, 2025

Elon Musk sports black eye at farewell presser...

May 30, 2025

Biden says he could ‘beat the hell out...

May 30, 2025

Donald Trump fires National Portrait Gallery director for...

May 30, 2025

‘American hero’ or ‘failure’: Elon Musk’s DOGE departure...

May 30, 2025

Unfinished Business: The budget cuts Musk couldn’t complete...

May 30, 2025

Alleged attempt to impersonate White House chief of...

May 30, 2025
Enter Your Information Below To Receive Free Trading Ideas, Latest News, And Articles.


Your information is secure and your privacy is protected. By opting in you agree to receive emails from us. Remember that you can opt-out any time, we hate spam too!

Latest News

  • Trump, Harris have visited these states the most heading into Election Day

    November 4, 2024
  • Experts reveal Trump’s next move could be ‘nail in coffin’ for Biden-era regulations on nicotine

    April 26, 2025
  • Ukraine enters fourth year of war with Russia: ‘Closer to the beginning than we are to the end’

    February 24, 2025
  • PepeX ICO raises $1.35M as Trump’s crypto push fuels market attention

    April 14, 2025
  • New poll reveals which Trump policies Americans love and hate

    February 12, 2025

Popular Posts

  • 1

    Secret Service admits leaning on ‘state and local partners’ after claim it ignored Trump team’s past requests

    July 21, 2024
  • 2

    Elon and Vivek should tackle US funding for this boondoogle organization and score a multimillion dollar win

    December 4, 2024
  • 3

    Forex Profit Calculator: Maximize Your Trading Potential

    July 10, 2024
  • 4

    Five more House Democrats call on Biden to drop out, third US senator

    July 19, 2024
  • 5

    Biden calls to ‘lower the temperature’ then bashes Trump in NAACP speech

    July 17, 2024

Categories

  • Economy (829)
  • Editor's Pick (4,735)
  • Investing (624)
  • Stock (775)

Latest Posts

  • ApeCoin and Akita Inu: ApeCoin tries to retain new support

    September 3, 2024
  • EURUSD and GBPUSD: EURUSD is pulling back from this morning

    August 26, 2024
  • Shadowy group propped up by Democrat money accused of ‘dirty tricks’ meddling against GOP in key races

    September 19, 2024

Recent Posts

  • FBI investigating rise in swatting incidents after several conservatives targeted, Kash Patel says

    March 15, 2025
  • SafeMoon and Litecoin: Litecoin on a bullish run this week

    August 14, 2024
  • Crypto News: Key Developments in Trump’s First Week

    January 24, 2025

Editor’s Pick

  • EURGBP and EURCHF: EURGBP has fallen to a two-year low

    July 15, 2024
  • Trump gives Johnson ‘complete and total endorsement’ ahead of speakership fight

    December 30, 2024
  • U.S. airlines cool hiring after adding 194,000 employees in post-Covid spree

    September 9, 2024
  • About us
  • Contacts
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

Disclaimer: moneyrisetoday.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively “The Company”) do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.

Copyright © 2025 moneyrisetoday.com | All Rights Reserved

Money Rise Today – Investing and Stock News
  • Economy
  • Editor’s Pick
Money Rise Today – Investing and Stock News
  • Investing
  • Stock