McConnell joked that Trump's ex-secretary of state could deny calling Trump a 'moron' because he actually called him a 'fucking moron': book

• Mitch McConnell privately joked about allegations that Rex Tillerson called Trump a "moron," new book says.
• He said Tillerson could deny saying that because he actually called Trump a "fucking moron."
• McConnell also said last year that Trump would lose the election just by "being Donald Trump," per the book.
• See more stories on Insider's business page.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell privately joked that President Donald Trump's former secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, denied calling Trump a "moron" because he in fact called Trump a "fucking moron."

That's according to "Peril," by The Washington Post's Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, an early copy of which was obtained by Insider. The book is set to be released next week.

Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson made headlines in 2017 when NBC News reported that he called Trump a "moron" and had to be talked out of resigning by then-Vice President Mike Pence. When reporters asked Tillerson to comment on the story, he refused to specifically deny calling the president a moron, forcing the State Department spokesperson to deny it later that day, saying, "The secretary did not use that type of language to speak about the president of the United States."

Woodward and Costa reported that McConnell enjoyed joking to fellow Republicans about Tillerson's comments."

"Do you know why Tillerson was able to say he didn't call the president a 'moron'?" McConnell asked colleagues, according to the book. "Because he called him a 'fucking moron.'"

The Kentucky Republican was Senate majority leader last year and grew increasingly frustrated with Trump's erratic behavior and tendency to veer off-track heading into the November election. He believed that Joe Biden's campaign was succeeding in casting Biden as a levelheaded, moderate alternative to Trump, who Woodward and Costa described as a "wild Republican incumbent."

From a policy standpoint, McConnell considered Trump a boon to the Republican Party, praising his focus on shifting the federal judiciary to the right and his economic policies emphasizing GOP priorities like tax cuts.

But he said that Trump would lose the November election just by virtue of "being Donald Trump," the book said. "Trump's personality was his biggest problem and from a personality point of view, Joe was the opposite of Trump."

The rift between Trump and McConnell continued growing in the run-up to the election and after, and reached its breaking point after Trump incited a deadly riot at the US Capitol on January 6.

The Washington Post reported that the Kentucky lawmaker was so furious with the outgoing president after the insurrection that he never wanted to speak to Trump again. He also took to the Senate floor after Congress reconvened to certify the 2020 election results following the siege and denounced the crowd of pro-Trump rioters.

The House of Representatives voted to impeach Trump for a second time over his role in the riot. After his Senate trial, McConnell said that although there was "no question" Trump was "practically and morally responsible" for the riot and that his actions were a "dereliction of duty," he could not be convicted because he was no longer in office.