Former US President Donald Trump on Sunday called for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to step down from his role following his freeze-up at a news conference last week.
"We have to have that," Trump told Breitbart News when asked if Republicans should replace McConnell.
"We have some people in the Senate that are fantastic and would be great at that position. But it's just amazing he would do that — but at the same time, I hope he's well," Trump added, saying he thought the freeze-up was "sad."
The incident occurred on Wednesday, when at his weekly press conference, McConnell froze and stared vacantly for about 20 seconds before his Republican colleagues standing behind him grabbed his elbows and asked if he wanted to go back to his office.
He later returned to the news conference and answered questions as if nothing had happened.
When asked about the episode, he said he was “fine,” a statement he repeated in a hallway to reporters later that day.
On Friday, McConnell’s office said he has no plans to step down after the incident.
In a statement, his office said McConnell appreciates the continued support of his colleagues and “plans to serve his full term in the job they overwhelmingly elected him to do.”
Trump and McConnell have been at odds, with McConnell recently blaming Trump for the Republicans’ disappointment in the mid-term elections.
Previously, he appeared to take aim at Trump over the former President’s decision to host rapper Kanye West and white supremacist Nick Fuentes for dinner at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.
"First, let me just say that there is no room in the Republican Party for antisemitism or white supremacy. And anyone meeting with people advocating that point of view, in my judgment, are highly unlikely to ever be elected president of the United States," he said.
Trump later fired back, telling Fox News Digital in an interview, "Mitch is a loser for our nation and for the Republican Party who would not have been re-elected in Kentucky without my endorsement, which he begged me for because he was going down. His well-financed opponent had $93 million ready to spend when I drove him from two points down to 21 points up in a matter of days."