Wooing voters in North Carolina, Trump says he hopes to rid of Mitch McConnell soon

Donald Trump told his supporters Sunday that he is looking forward to the day that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell leaves the upper chamber.

While criticizing Vice President Kamala Harris, Mr. Trump briefly turned his attention to Mr. McConnell, saying the longest-serving Senate leader in history signed off on too much spending.

“Hopefully, we get rid of Mitch McConnell pretty soon because he helped them,” Mr. Trump said in North Carolina. “That guy. Can you believe he endorsed me? Boy, that must have been a painful day in his life.”

“What a disgrace,” he said.

Mr. McConnell endorsed Mr. Trump in March after former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley ended her presidential bid.

“It is abundantly clear that former President Trump has earned the requisite support of Republican voters to be our nominee for President of the United States. It should come as no surprise that as the nominee, he will have my support,” Mr. McConnell said.

Mr. Trump, 78, and Mr. McConnell, 82, have had an icy relationship. 

Mr. Trump has been a fierce public critic of Mr. McConnell even though the GOP leader played a lead role in some of the former president’s most significant accomplishments, including installing conservative-leaning justices on the Supreme Court and passing tax cuts in 2017.

Mr. McConnell refused to bow to Mr. Trump’s demands when he voted to certify the 2020 election results. The two have also clashed over U.S. support for Ukraine in its war with Russia.

Mr. McConnell announced in February that this would be his last term as Republican leader of the Senate. Should he choose to seek another term, his eighth, the campaign would come in the next off-year election, in 2026.