McConnell invokes Trump appointment of wife in response to anti-immigrant rhetoric

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) responded to Donald Trump’s comment that immigrants are “poisoning the blood” of the country by invoking his wife, whose Taiwanese heritage has been the source of relentless verbal taunts by the former president.

“Well, it strikes me that didn’t bother him when he appointed Elaine Chao secretary of transportation,” McConnell said at his weekly press conference on Tuesday when asked about the remark.

OATH OF OFFICE: DID BIDEN FULFILL HIS PROMISE TO RESTORE THE ECONOMY?

The two party leaders have been at odds ever since McConnell held Trump “morally responsible” for the Jan. 6 riots. The former president has, in turn, disparaged McConnell as a “third-rate leader” and fake conservative.

But his most personal attacks have been reserved for McConnell’s wife, whom Trump uses to suggest the couple has “sold out” to the Chinese. The Chao family runs an American shipping company with ties to China.

Trump regularly calls McConnell an “Old Crow,” among other insults, but his nickname for Chao, “Coco Chow,” has been denounced as racist for its intentional mispronunciation.

Trump appointed Chao, who immigrated to the United States at the age of 8, to lead the Department of Transportation upon assuming office in 2017, a position she held until submitting her resignation after the Capitol riot.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was similarly asked about Trump’s remark, made at a campaign rally in New Hampshire on Saturday.

He called the comment “despicable” but, like his Republican counterparts, emphasized the need for border reforms as a record number of migrants cross into the U.S. daily.

“Democrats know we have to solve that problem, but in keeping with our principles,” Schumer said.

Republicans have largely distanced themselves from Trump’s latest remark, which the Biden campaign denounced as “parroting” Adolf Hitler’s writings on racial purity.

But allies such as Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) defended Trump’s words on Tuesday, making an argument the president has not — that the words were directed at the drug epidemic.

“He said illegal immigrants were poisoning the blood of the country, which is objectively and obviously true to anybody who looks at the statistics about fentanyl overdoses,” Vance told reporters.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

The president himself doubled down on his comments in a Truth Social post after his rally.

“ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION IS POISONING THE BLOOD OF OUR NATION,” he said in all caps. “WITHOUT BORDERS & FAIR ELECTIONS, YOU DON’T HAVE A COUNTRY.”

Emily Jacobs contributed to this story.