Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., made light of the fact that former President Donald Trump refers to him as the "Old Crow."
"It's my favorite bourbon," McConnell, referring to a Kentucky spirit of the same name, told the Washington Examiner on Tuesday night.
McConnell then turned to a member of his staff and invoked the name of a famous former Kentucky lawmaker from the mid-1800s.
"Aren't we using Old Crow as my moniker now? It was Henry Clay’s favorite bourbon," he said.
Trump routinely has attacked McConnell ever since the leader congratulated President Joe Biden on winning the 2020 election. Trump and allies contend the election was decided by voter fraud in several battleground states.
The former president became more irate after McConnell, speaking from the Senate floor, said Trump "provoked" the demonstrators who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
During the summer of 2021, Trump began calling for Republican senators to remove McConnell as their leader.
Asked whether he was worried that Trump might garner support within the GOP conference, McConnell appeared unconcerned.
"Every reporter in town, including, I'm sure, you, have been probing to find one [senator to agree with Trump] for months, right?" McConnell told the Examiner. "Have you found one?"
McConnell, 79, has been GOP leader for 15 years, including six in the majority.
He has been slammed by Republicans other than Trump for handing Biden a bipartisan victory with infrastructure, and with supporting bipartisan negotiations to amend the Electoral Count Act to more clearly define the role of the vice president when certifying electoral results.
Still, Trump remains McConnell's No. 1 antagonist.
"[Former Vice President] Mike Pence said he had no authority other than to send the votes forward to the Old Crow, Mitch McConnell," Trump said in a statement on Saturday. "If so, why are the Dems and RINOs fighting so hard to make it impossible for a VP to do so in the future?"
A day earlier, Trump released a statement saying, "Just saw Mike Pence’s statement on the fact that he had no right to do anything with respect to the Electoral Vote Count, other than being an automatic conveyor belt for the Old Crow Mitch McConnell to get Biden elected President as quickly as possible."
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