Trump responds to McConnell criticism of RNC censure resolution

Former President Trump slammed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Wednesday after the top Senate Republican criticized the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) censure of Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) and its characterization of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot as “legitimate political discourse.”

“Mitch McConnell does not speak for the Republican Party, and does not represent the views of the vast majority of its voters. He did nothing to fight for his constituents and stop the most fraudulent election in American history,” Trump said in a statement, resurfacing his baseless claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him.

“If Mitch would have fought for the election, like the Democrats would have if in the same position, we would not be discussing any of the above today, and our Country would be STRONG and PROUD instead of weak and embarrassed,” Trump added. 

Trump has frequently attacked McConnell for acknowledging President Biden as the legitimate winner of the 2020 election and rejecting the former president’s claims that widespread fraud tainted the outcome of the vote. 

His latest remarks came a day after McConnell pushed back against the RNC’s censure of Cheney and Kinzinger for their roles on the select committee investigating the Capitol riot. McConnell also criticized the party’s censure resolution for apparently referring to the attack on the Capitol as “legitimate political discourse.”

“We saw it happen,” McConnell said. “It was a violent insurrection for the purpose of trying to prevent the peaceful transfer of power after a legitimately certified election, from one administration to the next. That’s what it was.”

RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel has rejected the notion that the resolution’s inclusion of the phrase “legitimate political discourse” referred to those who committed acts of violence during the Jan. 6 riot. Rather, she has argued that it was intended to refer to those who engaged in peaceful protests. 

In a op-ed published on the conservative website Townhall on Tuesday, McDaniel noted that she has “repeatedly condemned the violence that occurred at the Capitol on January 6th” and blamed the news media for misconstruing the text of the censure resolution. 

“If corporate news media wants to know why Americans don’t trust it anymore, they should look no further than the shameful, outrageous, and patently false coverage of the resolution adopted by the RNC to censure Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger,” she wrote.

The RNC resolution has divided Republicans on Capitol Hill, with a number of GOP lawmakers, particularly in the Senate, criticizing it. 

Those critics include Sen. Mitte Romney (R-Utah), who is McDaniel’s uncle.