In a statement on Monday, former President Donald Trump claimed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is working on deals with China for his Taiwanese American wife, Elaine Chao.
What happened: The statement came after ABC News White House reporter Jonathan Karl shared some details from his upcoming book, “Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show,” according to ABC News.
- In the book, Karl said McConnell had allegedly instructed his GOP colleagues to compose a letter uninviting Trump from the Jan. 20 inauguration for fear of “disrupt[ing] the peaceful transfer of power.” The reporter said McConnell decided to withdraw the invitation following the grim Jan. 6 Capitol Hill attack. However, some of the party disagreed with the senator.
- “Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) opposed the idea, arguing it would be an important message of unity to have Trump attend the ceremony as Biden took the oath of office,” Karl said in his book. “But McConnell was determined to disinvite Trump regardless of whether McCarthy would sign the letter.”
- In his statement, Trump said he would “have never agreed” to attend the inauguration and that he was the one who decided not to show up, Courier-Journal reported.
- “The old broken-down Crow, Mitch McConnell, had nothing to do with it,” Trump wrote, adding that McConnell “was probably too busy working on deals with China for his wife and family.”
- However, Karl claimed in his book that Trump wanted people to think he was the one who decided not to attend the event after he made his final tweet on Jan. 8.
Other details: Born in Taipei, Chao became the first Taiwanese American U.S. Cabinet member after being elected as the secretary of labor under the Bush administration in 2001.
- Chao, who was one of the Trump administration’s longest-serving cabinet members, issued her resignation on Jan. 7 following the Capitol Hill attack. In her statement, Chao said the incident “has deeply troubled me in a way that I could not simply set aside.”
Featured Image via Hudson Institute (CC BY 2.0)
