McConnell calls Trump a ‘fading brand’ in Woodward-Costa book

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) referred to former President Trump as a “fading brand,” according to a new book published by Washington Post journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, the Lexington Herald Ledger reported.

According to their new book “Peril,” McConnell reportedly called Trump “a fading brand. Retired. OTTB as they say in Kentucky — off-the-track thoroughbred.”

McConnell, often a target of Trump’s ire, also reportedly said that he saw a trend indicating that the Republican Party was starting to move away from Trumpism, reportedly saying “Sucking up to Donald Trump is not a strategy that works.”

The Senate Republican leader also reportedly said that Trump would be at a crossroads if the former president endorsed candidates that he believed would not win.

“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,” McConnell reportedly said, according to the news outlet. “To have a chance of getting the Senate back, you have to have the most electable candidates possible.”

The Hill has reached out to McConnell’s office and a spokesperson for Trump for comment.

Trump has regularly bashed the Senate Republican leader in statements, including when McConnell supported the bipartisan infrastructure bill.

“Nobody will ever understand why Mitch McConnell allowed this non-infrastructure bill to be passed. He has given up all of his leverage for the big whopper of a bill that will follow,” Trump wrote in a statement in August. “I have quietly said for years that Mitch McConnell is the most overrated man in politics—now I don’t have to be quiet anymore.”

In February, McConnell said the former president was “morally responsible for provoking the events” of Jan. 6, during which a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol to stop Congress from certifying President Biden’s 2020 presidential election win.

McConnell, however, did not vote to convict Trump during his second impeachment trial.  

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that the former president was gauging interest among allies and lawmakers about trying to remove McConnell from his leadership post, though the efforts appeared unsuccessful thus far.