Mitch McConnell invoked his wife to take a rare swipe at Donald Trump over his controversial comments claiming that migrants are “poisoning the blood” of the US.

The Senate Minority leader, who has a fraught relationship with the former president, was asked about Mr Trump’s language which has been likened to the rhetoric used in Nazi Germany.

During a speech in New Hampshire on Saturday, Mr Trump said: “They let — I think the real number is 15, 16 million people into our country…. They’re poisoning the blood of our country. That’s what they’ve done.”

Mr McConnell was on Tuesday questioned on whether he was “comfortable” with his party’s “leading presidential candidate referring to illegal immigrants as ‘poisoning the blood of our country’.”

Earlier this year Mr McConnell adopted a policy of not commenting on any of the Republican candidates running for president - largely to avoid answering questions about Mr Trump.

But on Tuesday he broke his pact, saying: “It strikes me that didn’t bother him when he appointed Elaine Chao the secretary of transportation”.

Ms Chao, who is Taiwanese-American, is Mr McConnell’s wife and was appointed to Mr Trump’s cabinet in 2017.

She stepped down in the aftermath of Jan 6 attack on the US Capitol, saying the “traumatic and entirely avoidable event” had “deeply troubled me in a way I simply cannot set aside”.

Mr Trump has previously been accused of making racist comments about Ms Chao, having referred to her as “China-loving” and “Coco Chow” on Truth Social last year.

Marc Short, a former Trump administration official and senior advisor to former Vice President Mike Pence, described his comments as “a racial slur” and “obviously wrong”.

Steven Cheung, Mr Trump’s spokesperson, said at the time that the former president’s criticism of Ms Chao was centred on her family’s potential financial conflicts and not race.

At the start of 2023 Ms Chao hit back, saying: “When I was young, some people deliberately misspelled or mispronounced my name. Asian Americans have worked hard to change that experience for the next generation.

“He doesn’t seem to understand that, which says a whole lot more about him than it will ever say about Asian Americans.”
Mr Trump’s “poisoning the blood” comments have provoked backlash from several other GOP lawmakers.

“My grandfather was an immigrant so I don’t agree with that sentiment,” said Senate Republican Whip John Thune.

Meanwhile, Thom Tillis, who is part of Mr McConnell’s leadership team, called Mr Trump’s comments “unhelpful rhetoric.”  

Shelley Moore Capito, another member of the Senate GOP leadership team, told The Hill: “Obviously, I don’t agree with that.”  

“We’re all children of immigrants,” she said. “It’s just part of his campaign rhetoric, I guess. I don’t know, I can’t explain it.”  

But some Republicans have doubled down on their support of the former president.

Alabama senator Tommy Tuberville said he was “mad” that Mr Trump “wasn’t tougher”.

“Because have you seen what’s happening at the border? We’re being overrun,” he said. “So a little bit disappointed it wasn’t tougher.”

Meanwhile, Democrats have been quick to denounce Mr Trump.

“Donald Trump channeled his role models as he parroted Adolf Hitler, praised Kim Jong-un, and quoted Vladimir Putin while running for president on a promise to rule as a dictator and threaten American democracy,” a spokesperson for the Biden-Harris campaign said.