Donald Trump has criticized Mitch McConnell in a scathing statement, in which he branded the Senate Minority Leader "dour, sullen, and unsmiling".

Trump issued his typically-blunt retort following McConnell’s damning statements made in a damning op-ed piece published in the Wall Street Journal.

In the article in question, McConnell reflected on Trump’s narrow escape from a conviction in his Senate impeachment trial and laid the blame for the Capitol riots, in which a mob of pro-Trump supporters stormed Congress, squarely at the former POTUS’ feet.

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McConnell stated:

"There is no question former President Trump bears moral responsibility. His supporters stormed the Capitol because of the unhinged falsehoods he shouted into the world’s largest megaphone.

"His behavior during and after the chaos was also unconscionable, from attacking Vice President Mike Pence during the riot to praising the criminals after it ended."

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Per CNN, on Tuesday (February 16), Trump issued a written statement in which he lambasted McConnell and his wife Elaine Chao - Trump’s own former Secretary of Transportation.

Trump wrote:

"The Republican Party can never again be respected or strong with political 'leaders' like Sen. Mitch McConnell at its helm.

"McConnell’s dedication to business as usual, status quo policies, together with his lack of political insight, wisdom, skill, and personality, has rapidly driven him from Majority Leader to Minority Leader, and it will only get worse."

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Trump continued:

"The Democrats and Chuck Schumer play McConnell like a fiddle - they’ve never had it so good - and they want to keep it that way! We know our America First agenda is a winner, not McConnell's Beltway First agenda or Biden’s America Last.

"Mitch is a dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack, and if Republican Senators are going to stay with him, they will not win again. He will never do what needs to be done, or what is right for our Country."

Trump added: "Likewise, McConnell has no credibility on China because of his family’s substantial Chinese business holdings. He does nothing on this tremendous economic and military threat."

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On Saturday, February 13, 43 senators voted Trump not guilty of inciting the riots on the Capitol Building on January 6, after the former POTUS was accused by his critics of riling up the crowds in an incendiary speech delivered to crowds prior to the civil disturbance.

Per the Metro, a mere seven out of a total of 50 Republican senators – Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, Ben Sasse, Bill Cassidy, Richard Burr, Mitt Romney, and Pat Toomey – voted to convict Trump, leaving him free to run for office once again in the future in three years' time.

Trump brands Mitch McConnell a 'dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack' in new statement