Prominent conservatives criticized Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday over his recent comment that Republicans could fail to retake the upper chamber in November.
The Kentucky Republican made the statement while attending a Chamber of Commerce luncheon in his home state, according to NBC News.
"I think there's probably a greater likelihood the House flips than the Senate. Senate races are just different — they're statewide, candidate quality has a lot to do with the outcome," McConnell said.
"Right now, we have a 50-50 Senate and a 50-50 country, but I think when all is said and done this fall, we're likely to have an extremely close Senate, either our side up slightly or their side up slightly."
But several conservatives noted that his pessimism could be sparked by the Republican leader's lasting feud with former President Donald Trump that began in the aftermath of the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
"McConnell would rather lose the Senate than win with primary candidates he tried to knife. That's why he's having a temper tantrum right now instead of doing his job," tweeted The Federalist CEO Sean Davis.
"The truth is he wants every GOP nominee to be another Liz Cheney rather than someone responsive to GOP voters," he added.
BlazeTV host Steve Deace also got in on the bashing.
"McConnell is telling you now what people like me have been telling you for years — the GOP would rather lose to Democrats than lose control of the party to its base," tweeted Steve Deace, an influential conservative talk show host. "That's what 'electable' means — someone they approve of. Ditch would rather have [Sen. Mark] Kelly [D-Ariz.] than [Republican challenger Blake] Masters, for example."
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