Trump mocks Bill Barr while thanking him for his endorsement, calling him 'gutless' and 'lazy'

• Donald Trump mocked Bill Barr while thanking him for his endorsement in the 2024 election.
• The former US attorney general has grown critical of Trump but pledged to vote Republican in November.

Former US President Donald Trump mocked former US attorney general Bill Barr while thanking him for his endorsement in the 2024 presidential election race.

Barr, a vocal Trump critic, told Fox News last week that he would be voting Republican in November, saying: "I think it's my duty to pick the person I think would do the least harm to the country."

"In my mind, that's — I will vote the Republican ticket," he said.

Trump responded to the comment on his social media platform, Truth Social.

"Wow! Former A.G. Bill Barr, who let a lot of great people down by not investigating Voter Fraud in our Country, has just Endorsed me for President despite the fact that I called him "Weak, Slow Moving, Lethargic, Gutless, and Lazy" (New York Post!)," he wrote.

"Based on the fact that I greatly appreciate his wholehearted Endorsement, I am removing the word "Lethargic" from my statement. Thank you Bill. MAGA2024!" he added.

Barr served as the attorney general under Trump between 2019 and 2020, but their relationship became strained after Barr said that the US Justice Department had found no evidence of voter fraud in the 2020 election.

Barr, once a key Trump ally, became increasingly critical of the former president in the wake of his criminal indictments.

In June 2023, Barr called Trump a "consummate narcissist" and "a very petty individual who will always put his interests ahead of the country's."

Barr also hit out at Trump's argument that it was unfair for him to be in court while he was due to be out campaigning.

"You don't get immunity for two years in a runup to the election just saying, 'hey, I'm a candidate you can't try me.' These investigations have been going on for a while, everyone knew about them before he even announced his candidacy," he said.

Trump has previously suggested that some of Barr's criticism came because he had been "tough" on him when he was in office.

"I was tough on him in the White House, for good reason," he wrote on Truth Social, per The Hill.