Mitch McConnell goes scorched earth on Trump for 'not' wanting to close the border and blames Tucker Carlson for 'demonizing' Ukraine aid

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell criticized two of his prominent critics on Tuesday after the Senate voted to advance a $95 billion foreign aid package.

McConnell specifically called out former Fox News host Tucker Carlson for opposing funding more foreign aid for Ukraine.

'Demonization of Ukraine began by Tucker Carlson - who in my opinion ended up where he should have been all along, interviewing Vladimir Putin,' McConnell told reporters at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, appearing to relish his victory.

'He had enormous audience which convinced a lot of rank and file Republicans.'

McConnell specifically called out former Fox News host Tucker Carlson for opposing funding more foreign aid for Ukraine

Mitch McConnell celebrated a Senate vote passing more aid for Ukraine and criticized Tucker Carlson and Donald Trump

As a Fox News host, Carlson repeatedly questioned why the United States should fund the war in Ukraine as President Joe Biden and members of Congress directed more than $75 billion in assistance after the country was invaded by Russia.

Carlson continued advocating against aid for Ukraine even after he was fired by Fox News in April 2023. 

After starting his own media company, Carlson interviewed Russian President Vladimir Putin in February which further angered supporters of Ukraine.

The Senate voted 80-19 on Tuesday to advance an additional $61 billion for Ukraine, despite 17 Senate Republicans voting against it.

McConnell also took a shot at former President Donald Trump for helping sink a bipartisan Senate bill to secure the border in February.

'We all felt the border was a disaster,' he said. 'First there was an effort to make law which requires you to deal with Democrats. Then our nominee for President didn’t seem to want us to anything at all.'

In February, Trump helped kill a Senate foreign aid bill that included an additional $20 billion to secure the border and a number of concessions to Democrats on the immigration issue that angered Trump.

Mitch McConnell announced he would step down as Senate Republican leader at the end of 2024

Donald Trump helped sink a Senate border bill that McConnell backed in February. 

Trump decried the bills as 'a great gift to the Democrats, and a Death Wish for The Republican Party.'

'Don’t be STUPID!!! We need a separate Border and Immigration bill,' he added. 'It should not be tied to foreign aid in any way, shape or form!'

After Trump sank the Senate bill in February, McConnell announced his intention to step aside from the position of Republican leader at the end of 2024.

Despite endorsing Trump for president in March, McConnell vowed to fight what he described as a growing 'isolationist' trend in the Republican Party.

'I’m particularly involved in actually fighting back against the isolationist movement in my own party,' McConnell said in an interview with a local Kentucky radio station.