Mitch McConnell, Who Endorsed Trump, Called Him “Unfit" For Office | Vanity FairSkip to main contentOpen Navigation MenuMenuSearchSearchPoliticsBusinessHollywoodStyleCultureRoyalsCelebrityVideoPodcastsArchiveVF ShopWhat Is Cinema?ArchiveVF ShopMagazineWith friends like these…  Mitch McConnell, Who Endorsed Trump, Called Him “Unfit" For OfficeThe Senate minority leader also said the former president committed an “impeachable offense” on January 6. McConnell voted against impeachment anyway.By Caitlin DeweyOctober 24, 2024WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 05: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) holds a press conference after the Senate voted to acquit President Donald Trump on the two articles of impeachment brought by the House of Representatives to the Senate for trial on Capitol Hill on February 5, 2020 in Washington, DC. After the House impeached Trump last year, the Senate voted today on whether to acquit or convict the President on two articles of impeachment as the trial concludes. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)Samuel CorumSave this storySaveSave this storySaveSenate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell considered Donald Trump a “sleazeball,” “a narcissist” and “a despicable human being” who was “unfit” for public office and committed an obviously impeachable offense. And yet, the Kentucky Republican not only voted against impeaching Trump in 2021…but has also endorsed his current run for president.McConnell’s unvarnished opinions of Trump, first reported by the Associated Press and CNN, appear in a forthcoming biography of McConnell by journalist Michael Tackett. Tackett based the book on both conversations with McConnell and the senator’s personal archive, including an oral diary dating back to 1995. McConnell did not mince words, calling Trump “erratic,” “stupid,” “ill-tempered,” “irascible,” “nasty” and “just about every quality you would not want somebody to have.”Of Trump’s actions during the Capitol riots on January 6, McConnell declared: “I’m not at all conflicted about whether what the president did is an impeachable offense. I think it is.”Of Trump’s hold over Republican voters, he added: “Trump is appealing to people who haven’t been as successful as other people and providing an excuse for that.” Also: “Unfortunately, about half the Republicans in the country believe whatever he says.”McConnell—who has led the Senate Republican Conference since 2007—has famously had a rocky relationship with Trump. The senator defied Trump’s claims that he won the 2020 election and broke with the former president to congratulate Joe Biden. McConnell also denounced Trump on the Senate floor in February 2021, calling him “practically and morally responsible” for the attack on the US Capitol. (Per Tackett’s book, he cried in the aftermath of the riot.)Despite those misgivings, however, McConnell has never quite broken ranks. He endorsed Trump for president in March, fulfilling a previous promise to support whomever the GOP nominated, and met with the former president over the summer as part of a gathering of Senate Republicans.“Whatever I may have said about President Trump pales in comparison to what JD Vance, Lindsey Graham, and others have said about him,” McConnell told CNN on Wednesday. “But we are all on the same team now.”More Great Stories From Vanity FairSee Our Winner Predictions for the 2025 SAG AwardsHow Patrick Schwarzenegger “Eye-F—ed” His Way Onto The White LotusThe White Lotus Season 3: All the Easter Eggs You May Have MissedThe Education—and Anointment—of Barron TrumpMillie Bobby Brown on Stranger Things, Marriage, and Life on the FarmWhere to Watch Every 2025 Oscar-Nominated MovieA Lovesick Aristocrat and the Royal Family’s Nazi-Connected ShamesChronicling JD Vance’s Circuitous Rise to Power: Listen to the Inside the Hive Podcast with Host Radhika JonesEvery Steven Spielberg Movie, RankedFrom the Archive: Seduction-to-Spilt Secrets From Ava Gardner’s Three MarriagesCaitlin DeweyContributorCaitlin Dewey is a freelance journalist and the author of the long-running digital culture newsletter “Links I Would Gchat You If We Were Friends.” She has reported on technology, culture, and politics for outlets including The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Elle, Slate, and Cosmopolitan. 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Me this morning: hm weird timing from McConnell. where's this coming from?


Me now: Ah.