Trump calls Mitch McConnell 'a loser' and blames him for GOP senators who won't back 2020 election lies

• Trump called Mitch McConnell a "loser" in a new NPR interview.
• He blamed McConnell over GOP senators who won't embrace his false election claims.

Former President Donald Trump in a new interview with NPR's Steve Inskeep escalated his highly public feud with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, calling the Kentucky Republican a "loser."

Trump placed blame on McConnell for why certain GOP senators were not pushing his "Big Lie" about the 2020 election or the groundless notion that it was "rigged."

When Inskeep asked Trump why he thought Republican senators like Mike Rounds of South Dakota had disputed his false claims about 2020, Trump said: "Because Mitch McConnell is a loser. And frankly, Mitch McConnell, if he were on the other side and if Schumer were put in his position, he would have been fighting this like you've never seen before."

Though Trump and McConnell worked closely together during Trump's presidency, Trump has routinely lashed out at the GOP leader since leaving the White House. McConnell's refusal to embrace Trump's election conspiracy theories has particularly drawn the former president's ire.

Rounds became the target of verbal attacks from Trump after saying on Sunday that the 2020 presidential election was "as fair as we've seen." In response, Trump called Rounds a "jerk" and said he "went woke."

Rounds doubled down on his comments on Monday. "I stand by my statement. The former president lost the 2020 election," he said.

Other GOP senators, including McConnell, came to Rounds' defense.

McConnell told CNN on Tuesday: "I think Sen. Rounds told the truth about what happened in the 2020 election. And I agree with him."

It's been well over a year since Election Day 2020, and Trump has still not acknowledged that he lost in a free and fair election to Joe Biden.

Trump has repeatedly and erroneously asserted that the election was stolen from him. In the NPR interview, Trump referred to it as "the presidential rigged election of 2020" but cut the conversation short when he was challenged over his lies.

Trump and his GOP allies filed dozens of lawsuits challenging the 2020 election results and didn't win a single one. Despite Trump's claims, there's no evidence of widespread or mass voter fraud in the 2020 election.