Trump escalates feud with Mitch McConnell, claiming credit for his long-standing status as least popular senator

• Trump mocked McConnell in a Truth Social post, suggesting he caused a drop in McConnell's polling.
• "See what I can do to people?" Trump said, referring to the poll.

Former President Donald Trump gloated over a poll identifying Mitch McConnell as the least popular US senator, making the questionable claim that he was to thank.

In the latest attack in his feud with the Senate minority leader, Trump posted a screenshot Monday of a Morning Consult poll on his Truth Social page. It was accompanied with the comment: "See what I can do to people? This was an easy one!"

Trump has attacked McConnell over statements the senator made after the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot, which were recently replayed at a public House hearing on the insurrection.

At the Thursday hearing, listeners heard McConnell say the Capitol rioters were "fed lies" and "provoked by the president." That prompted Trump to call McConnell a "disloyal sleaze bag" on Truth Social the same day.

But if Trump was suggesting his latest jabs sent McConnell to the bottom of the rankings, it's unlikely — the Morning Consult poll collected quarterly data between April 1 and June 30, before the latest exchange.

It found that 62% of respondents disapproved of McConnell's performance, while 31% approved and 7% didn't know. It's only a small shift for the worse compared with his polling in the previous quarter, Morning Consult said.

McConnell has repeatedly polled poorly in the long-running Morning Consult series and has held the spot of least popular over and over since at least 2016, before his major run-ins with Trump.

Trump and McConnell have been feuding since almost the beginning of Trump's presidency in 2017.

The attacks have intensified since Trump left office, with Trump calling McConnell an "old crow" — or, as he said during a May rally, "an old broken-down crow."

"Mitch McConnell is the least popular politician in the country," he told the crowd.

McConnell has been instrumental in some key wins for Trump, including the securing of a third Supreme Court pick in the waning days of his presidency.

And despite his comments following the Capitol riot, McConnell voted to acquit Trump after he was impeached over events on January 6.

McConnell's office did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.