The notorious right-wing editorial board of Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal issued a rare and sharp condemnation of Donald Trump over the former president’s “reckless” attacks on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, saying in an online post on Friday that the Kentucky Republican has “a death wish” for approving Democrat-sponsored bills.
“The ‘death wish’ rhetoric is ugly even by Mr. Trump’s standards and deserves to be condemned,” the Journal’s editorial board wrote in an editorial published late Sunday. “Mr. Trump’s apologists claim he merely meant Mr. McConnell has a political death wish, but that isn’t what he wrote. It’s all too easy to imagine some fanatic taking Mr. Trump seriously and literally, and attempting to kill Mr. McConnell. Many supporters took Mr. Trump’s rhetoric about former Vice President Mike Pence all too seriously on Jan. 6.”
The Journal editors took note of the rise in threats of political violence in recent years, citing Sen. Susan Collins’ concerns for the safety of lawmakers. “We live in a polarized political age when rabid partisans don’t need provocation to resort to violence,” the board wrote. “This makes Donald Trump’s latest verbal assault against Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell all the more reckless.”
The paper also took offense at the former president’s slam on McConnell’s wife, Elaine Chao, a Taiwan-born businesswoman who served as secretary of transportation in his administration. In his Truth Social post criticizing McConnell, Trump added, “Must immediately seek help and advise from his China loving wife, Coco Chow!”
“This continues Mr. Trump’s attacks on Elaine Chao, Mr. McConnell’s wife, for being Chinese-American,” The Journal editors wrote. “Her real offense was resigning as transportation secretary after Mr. Trump’s disgraceful behavior on Jan. 6.”