Trump hits GOP establishment in first post-presidency interview

Former President Trump on Wednesday vented frustration with the Republican establishment, saying many in the GOP did not fight hard enough for him.

Speaking on Fox News in his first interview since leaving office, Trump reiterated his false claim that he won the election against President Biden by a large margin.

“I think we won substantially … You would have had riots going all over the place if that happened to a Democrat,” Trump said. “We don’t have the same support at certain levels of the Republican system.”

Trump did not name names and anchor Bill Hemmer did not press him, but the former president was clearly referring to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

The former president laid into McConnell in a blistering statement the day before, calling the Kentucky Republican “a dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack.”

The statement came after McConnell on Saturday gave a blistering floor speech saying Trump was “practically and morally” responsible for the Jan. 6 siege on the Capitol because he led his followers to believe the election had been stolen from him.

“The leader of the free world cannot spend weeks thundering that shadowy forces are stealing our country and then feign surprise when people believe him and do reckless things,” McConnell said.

In the Fox interview, Trump reiterated his unsubstantiated claims of election fraud, saying he was “disappointed by a voter tabulation.”

“I think it’s disgraceful what happened,” he said. “We were like a third-world country on election night, with the closing down of the centers and all of the things that happened later.”