Anti-Trump Republicans knock McConnell, Barr for support of former president
An anti-Trump Republican group took a swipe at a series of high-profile politicians including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and former Attorney General Bill Barr for their support of former President Trump after repeatedly expressing concerns about him.
In an ad released Sunday, Republican Voters Against Trump warned of several GOP figures suffering from "partisan derangement syndrome."
Against the backdrop of dramatic music, the ad starts with footage of Barr, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) and McConnell before a narrator says, "Every day, prominent Republicans across the country tell us that Trump was responsible for the attack on the Capitol."
Sound bites then played from Barr, McConnell and Sununu, in which they all argued Trump is responsible for the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection.
"But sadly, these same Republicans say they will vote for him again," the narrator continues, before sound bites play of the three politicians indicating they will vote for Trump in November.
"These Republicans are suffering from 'partisan derangement syndrome," the narrator said, adding later, "At this point in the ad, I would tell you to call this number so you can help these deranged partisan Republicans, but sadly they're too far gone."
The ad comes less than two weeks after Barr confirmed he will vote for the Republican ticket, for which Trump is the presumptive presidential nominee, despite having broken with the former president over Jan. 6 and his false claims about the 2020 election.
Barr, who has also criticized President Biden, said earlier this month that “given two bad choices, I think it’s my duty to pick the person I think would do the least harm to the country, and in my mind … I will vote the Republican ticket.”
Barr added that Trump “may be playing Russian roulette, but a continuation of the Biden administration is national suicide.”
Weeks earlier, McConnell endorsed Trump, despite ongoing tensions with the former president. At the time, McConnell said it was "clear" the former president was shaping up to be the GOP's presidential nominee, whom he previously vowed to support.
The same occurred with Sununu, who said in March he will support Trump as the GOP nominee but stands by his past criticism.
“I’m going to support the ticket. I’m going to support Donald Trump, but my focus is definitely going to be here in the state,” he told WMUR in March.
Sununu had endorsed Trump rival and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley in the GOP primary before she dropped out.
Republican Voters Against Trump, a political group trying to stop Trump from taking back the Oval Office in November, released a separate six-figure ad last week that suggested Trump's four criminal indictments would prevent him from even getting a job at a local shopping mall.
“If Trump is too big of a liability to get a job at your local mall, he is too big of a liability to be president of the United States,” the narrator said in the video.
Trump and Biden have both picked up the delegates needed to win their respective parties’ nominations in this year’s presidential race, setting up a repeat of their 2020 match-up.
The race is competitive, with polling averages from The Hill/Decision Desk HQ showing Trump up by less than a half a percentage point over Biden.
The Hill reached out to Trump's campaign, Barr's firm and the offices of McConnell and Sununu for comment.