On the precipice of retirement, Mitch McConnell has become a pariah among the Republicans trying to succeed him.
The top three Republicans running in Kentucky’s Senate primary started in state politics interning for McConnell. Two of them once referred to him as a mentor. Now, they are racing to distance themselves, insulting not just McConnell, but their rivals for alleged closeness to him.
It’s a reflection of how President Donald Trump has all but extinguished the influence of any challengers within the GOP.
Having served 18 years as the Senate Republicans’ leader, McConnell is one of the most influential legislators in American history, known for holding together his conference to push through conservative priorities and stymie Democrats. But high-profile breaches with Trump on policy issues like tariffs – and critically, McConnell’s rebukes of Trump over the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol – have turned him into a rhetorical punching bag for candidates hoping to win Trump’s endorsement ahead of next year’s primary.
Trump has savaged McConnell in public comments, calling him a “disgrace” and saying last year that “hopefully, we get rid of Mitch McConnell pretty soon.”
McConnell’s office declined to comment to CNN. In an interview this month with the Lexington Herald-Leader, McConnell insisted he would not discuss the Senate race.
“Look, it’s pretty hard to find somebody in Kentucky politics that I don’t have some involvement with, either helping them get elected or solving local problems,” McConnell said. “I mean, if you’re searching for somebody in Kentucky that I haven’t been trying to help or be involved with in one way or another, (it’ll be a) pretty long search.”
Andy Barr once called him a ‘mentor’
Rep. Andy Barr has served alongside McConnell in Kentucky’s congressional delegation for over a decade, representing the 6th Congressional District since 2013. Barr’s ties to the veteran Republican leader go back even further – he served as an intern for McConnell in the 1990s.
A comment from Barr describing McConnell as a “mentor” has become fodder for an attack ad aired by a group affiliated with the conservative Club For Growth.
“Andy Barr, groomed by Mitch McConnell as an intern,” the ad begins, replaying a clip of Barr referring to “my mentor, Leader Mitch McConnell.” “Groomed by Mitch, Trump-hater like Mitch. That’s Andy Barr.”
In his own ads, Barr has sought to rebut the attacks by expressing his support for Trump and citing his work in Congress.
“A lot of politicians talk about supporting President Trump. I’m actually doing it every single day,” Barr says in his first campaign TV ad.
Barr has also worked to distance himself from McConnell. Ahead of his 2026 Senate campaign, he was interviewed by conservative podcaster Benny Johnson, who slammed McConnell’s record on trade policy, saying “the entire manufacturing base of America was gutted” in the time that he was GOP leader.
“A lot of Chamber of Commerce types, a lot of establishment, traditional Republicans, say oh, well, we need free trade, we shouldn’t be fighting any of this,” Barr concurred, in a segment his campaign sent out to supporters with the caption: “Andy Barr SLAMS McConnell for selling America out to China.”
Daniel Cameron said McConnell changed the ‘trajectory’ of his life
Former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron has ties to McConnell that stretch back decades. He was a member of the McConnell Scholars program during his time at the University of Louisville, interned for McConnell and went on to serve as his legal counsel.
In his victory speech after being elected state attorney general in 2019, Cameron remarked that McConnell “changed the trajectory of my life,” and said that he was “proud to call him a friend” and “proud to call him a mentor.”
His strong affiliation with McConnell, however, has now become a fixture of criticism by his rivals – grouped with Barr as one of “Mitch’s boys” in attack ads.
Cameron has exhibited a new willingness to criticize his former mentor. In a video announcing his Senate campaign, Cameron singled out McConnell and slammed his opposition to some of Trump’s second-term Cabinet nominees.
“What we saw from Mitch McConnell in voting against Pete Hegseth, Tulsi Gabbard, and RFK Jr. was flat-out wrong,” Cameron said in the video. “You should expect a senator from Kentucky to vote for those nominees to advance the America First agenda.”
McConnell noted to the Herald-Leader that they were no longer close.
Nate Morris interned for him too
Morris, the first-time candidate who owns a waste management company in Lexington, announced his bid on Donald Trump Jr.’s podcast earlier this year and previewed the fiery, anti-establishment tone that has characterized his campaign.
“Everyone has an expiration, Don, they have an expiration date, just like the things you find at the grocery store or anywhere else, and Mitch McConnell has hung around way too long,” Morris said on the podcast. “And I think your father put it best: The stench of Mitch has been something that you cannot ignore.”
He’s mocked both of his opponents as “McConnell’s boys” while lacerating the veteran Republican leader.
And Morris took it a step further during an appearance earlier this month at Kentucky’s Fancy Farm, a major political speaking event in the state.
“Andy and Daniel, today might be the perfect day to break some real news. Perhaps you could both show us the seat of your britches so we can finally understand exactly where Mitch’s hand goes in,” Morris said at the event, according to a report from the Herald-Leader.
But Morris, too, once served as a McConnell intern. And an outside group spending millions attacking Morris, Keep America Great PAC, is up with ads highlighting his past financial support for McConnell and for one of Trump’s challengers in the 2024 GOP presidential primary, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.