Mitch McConnell Swipes At Trump Over Poisoning The Blood Remark

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell vaguely rebuked Donald Trump s recent remarks about immigrants, invoking his wife, Elaine Chao.

CNN s Manu Raju asked the Kentucky Republican about the former presidents controversial claim on Saturday that immigrants are poisoning the blood of our country.

McConnell said, Well, it strikes me that didnt bother him when he appointed Elaine Chao secretary of transportation.

He did not explicitly answer Rajus question about whether he was comfortable with his partys leading presidential candidate using that language.

McConnell rarely weighs in publicly on matters relating to Trump. Their relationship soured after the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.

Chao, a Taiwanese American, served as Trumps transportation secretary from 2017 to 2021, when she resigned over his role in the Capitol attack.

.@mkraju: Are you comfortable with your party's leading presidential candidate referring to legal immigrants as people who are poisoning the blood of our country?

Mitch McConnell: That didn't bother him when he appointed [my wife] Elaine Chao Secretary of Transportation. pic.twitter.com/UfVw7IMdgL

The Recount (@therecount) December 19, 2023","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"The Recount","author_url":"https://twitter.com/therecount","cache_age":86400,"description":".@mkraju: Are you comfortable with your party's leading presidential candidate referring to legal immigrants as people who are poisoning the blood of our country?Mitch McConnell: That didn't bother him when he appointed [my wife] Elaine Chao Secretary of Transportation. pic.twitter.com/UfVw7IMdgL The Recount (@therecount) December 19, 2023\n\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_maxwidth":{"label":"Adjust width","placeholder":"220-550, in px","value":""},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","title":"The Recount on Twitter / 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.@mkraju : Are you comfortable with your party's leading presidential candidate referring to legal immigrants as people who are poisoning the blood of our country?

Mitch McConnell: That didn't bother him when he appointed [my wife] Elaine Chao Secretary of Transportation. pic.twitter.com/UfVw7IMdgL
The Recount (@therecount) December 19, 2023

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Trump has since referred to Chao as McConnells China-loving wife and Coco Chow, attacks which were widely condemned as racist , including by Chao herself .

Trump set off a firestorm after telling rally attendees in New Hampshire over the weekend that immigrants are pouring into the U.S. from around the world and poisoning the blood of our country.

Many critics and commentators have likened Trumps rhetoric to that of Adolf Hitler, who suggested in his fascist manifesto Mein Kampf that Jews and immigrants were poisoning the purity of German blood.