Former President Trump dismissed his Vice President Mike Pence for lacking 'courage' and called Mitch McConnell, Republican leader in the Senate, a 'knucklehead' as he picked over the last days of his presidency in an interview for a new book.
He also claimed the Jan. 6 rioters were a 'loving crowd' as he held court for two-and-half-hours at his Mar-a-Lago estate with the authors of 'I Alone Can Fix It,' which will be published on Tuesday.
It comes amid a slew of fresh accounts of the last days of Trump's time in office.
On Monday, Secret Service agents were also captured wheeling paintings of Trump with the signature 'I am who I am' into Trump Tower on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue.
He said McConnell had 'no personality' and lacked a killer political instinct for failing to eliminate the filibuster, which would have allowed them to force through a Republican agenda.
'He’s a stupid person,' he said, according to an excerpt published in Vanity Fair. 'I don’t think he’s smart enough.'
Ten portraits of Donald Trump arrived at Trump Tower in New York City with the words 'I am who I am' on them. Secret Service helped wheel the prints on a trolley into the entrance
A string of recent books has lifted the lid on President Trump's last days in office, describing his fury at officials who did not support his attempt to overturn the 2020 election result
Former President Trump held court at his Mar-a-Lago estate for two-and-a-half hours in March, offering his thoughts on the 2020 election, his potential running mates in 2024 and the performance of key allies. Trump dismissed Sen. Mitch McConnell as a 'knucklehead' for failing to eliminate the filibuster, which would have allowed him to push through a Republican agenda
He faulted McConnell for not persuading Sen. Joe Manchin, the moderate Democrat from West Virginia, to switch parties.
'I tried to convince Mitch McConnell to get rid of the filibuster, to terminate it, so that we would get everything, and he was a knucklehead and he didn’t do it, he added.
Trump also made familiar claims about the individuals he believed failed him in fighting harder to overturn the election result.
The book is published by Penguin Press on July 20, the latest in a string of accounts about the last days of the Trump presidency
In his eyes, Pence lacked the bravery to do the right thing.
'Had Mike Pence had the courage to send it back to the legislatures, you would have had a different outcome, in my opinion,' he told authors Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker.
His vice president was obliged to stand up if he saw evidence of fraud, he said.
'I think that the vice president of the United States must protect the Constitution of the United States,' he added.
'I don’t believe he’s just supposed to be a statue who gets these votes from the states and immediately hands them over. If you see fraud, then I
