Trump lashes out at former ally McConnell after book reveals he pushed back against election claims

After former US attorney general William Barr, ex-President Donald Trump on Monday lashed out at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, after a book reported that McConnell had urged Barr to push back against Trump's allegations of voter fraud in November 2020's presidential election.

Trump implied that had McConnell intervened to block the certification of President Joe Biden's electoral votes, the Senate leader would not be in a position where he is navigating bipartisan infrastructure talks, reported The Hill.

"Had Mitch McConnell fought for the Presidency like he should have, there would right now be Presidential Vetoes on all of the phased Legislation that he has proven to be incapable of stopping," said the former President in a statement.

"He never fought for the White House and blew it for the Country. Too bad I backed him in Kentucky, he would have been primaried and lost!" he continued.

In a newly-published excerpt from an upcoming book "Betrayal", Barr described the rapidly deteriorating relationship he had with Trump as the then-president became more vocal in his belief that the 2020 election was fraudulent, reported The Hill.

"If there was evidence of fraud, I had no motive to suppress it. But my suspicion all the way along was that there was nothing there. It was all bullshit," Barr told journalist Jonathan Karl.

Barr also told Karl that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell had urged him to push back against Trump's falsehoods, worrying that Trump's rhetoric would cost the Republicans in January's Senate runoffs in Georgia.

"Bill Barr was a disappointment in every sense of the word. Besides which, Barr, who was Attorney General (lawyer) shouldn't be speaking about the President," The Hill quoted a statement by Trump on late Sunday.

He added: "Instead of doing his job, he did the opposite and told people within the Justice Department not to investigate the election. Just like he did with the Mueller report and the cover up of Crooked Hillary and RUSSIA RUSSIA RUSSIA, they don't want to investigate the real facts. Bill Barr's weakness helped facilitate the cover up of the Crime of the Century, the Rigged 2020 Presidential Election!"

Trump further described Barr as a "RINO" who "really let down the American people" and complained about Barr's handling of the 2020 election and bemoaned that his former attorney general did not sufficiently investigate wrongdoing during the Obama administration.

Since the results of the 2020 presidential election, Trump had spent months claiming that the election was rigged against him, pointing to what he calls suspicious votes in Georgia, Arizona, Pennsylvania and elsewhere.

According to The Hill, Trump had pointed to Barr's words in his resignation letter where he said that he was "greatly honoured" to have served in the Trump administration.

Barr went on to praise Trump at the time, highlighting "the many successes and unprecedented achievements you have delivered for the American people. Your record is all the more historic because you accomplished it in the face of relentless implacable resistance."

On the other hand, though McConnell voted to acquit Trump in his second impeachment trial, he also denounced him from the Senate floor as "morally responsible" for the January 6 attack on the Capitol, where a pro-Trump mob breached the building for hours.

( With inputs from ANI )