Trump teases fight with McConnell in Fox News town hall: ‘I don’t know that I can work with him’
Former President Trump appeared to tease a fight could take place between him and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell should he win the White House in November.
Trump made the comments during a Fox News town hall with host Laura Ingraham on Tuesday night. Trump and McConnell have maintained a fractious relationship since McConnell held nothing back in condemning Trump for the storming of the U.S. Capitol in January 2021.
"He’ll probably end up endorsing me. I don’t know that I can work with him," Trump told Ingraham. "He gave away trillions of dollars that he didn’t have to, trillions of dollars. He made it very easy for the Democrats."
A number of other members of Congress have speculated about how a second Trump administration will play out if McConnell remains in control of the Senate.
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Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told FOX Business' Maria Bartiromo he was not even sure that McConnell would run for re-election if Trump wins the White House.
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"Obviously, there’s a lot of bad blood between Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump. Mitch will have to make that decision," Cruz said on Sunday. "What I want to see is, I want to see Republicans in the Senate stand and lead and fight. I believe November is going to be a very good election. I think we’re going to see Donald Trump reelected as president of the United States."
Trump also used his town hall appearance to once again challenge President Biden to a debate. Trump remains skeptical that Biden will accept the challenge, however.
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"I think you have an obligation in this case, you really have an obligation to debate, Trump emphasized. "As many as necessary. I could do it starting now."
Trump went on to say, "I don’t think he’s going to debate. I really don’t think so."
The path toward a debate between Trump and Biden remains murky. The Republican National Committee withdrew from the Commission on Presidential Debates in 2022, and Trump himself has called the organization "corrupt."
The debate commission has so far scheduled three general election debates, though neither Trump nor Biden have publicly agreed to them. The debates are scheduled for Sept. 16 at Texas State University in San Marcos; Oct. 1 at Virginia State University in Petersburg; and Oct. 9 at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.
Fox News' Paul Steinhauser and Brandon Gillespie contributed to this report.