President Donald Trump assailed two top Republican senators in a local Alabama radio interview aired Monday in which he sought to promote Luther Strange, who is running in a GOP Senate primary.
He took aim at Sen. John McCain for opposing the latest effort by Republicans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act and blamed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for the "ridiculous filibuster rule" that he believes prevents his administration from having legislative accomplishments.
In what he said was his first radio interview since taking office, the President admonished two members of his own party Monday on "The Rick and Bubba Show" and said he's fighting with Republicans as much as Democrats.
Here are the most memorable lines:
Trump on McCain: 'It's disgusting'
"It's disgusting," Trump said. "When I ran, I was told I'd have a bill on my desk and I'd sign it on Day 1. Now, when it matters because you have a president who is actually going to sign it, they don't do it. And they pander, and they grandstand. You look at McCain -- what McCain has done is a tremendous slap in the face to the Republican Party. Tremendous. He was good to go all the way up until 1 or 2 o'clock in the morning when he voted ... Without John McCain, we already have the health care."
'Mitch is not, polling-wise, the most popular guy'
"As you know, Mitch is not, polling-wise, the most popular guy in this country," Trump said. "They like to label (Strange) because he happened to be there for a number of months in the Senate, so they like to label him as Mitch's best friend but he's not. He hardly even knows him. He'll be fighting Mitch."
"I know he's going to fight him on that ridiculous filibuster rule where you need 60 votes instead of 50 or 51," Trump added. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen. So that means we need eight Democrats, and the Republicans can end it. And Mitch wants to keep it, which is ridiculous by the way. But Mitch wants to keep it. How do you get votes? That means you get eight Democrats every time. It is absolutely insanity to keep it. The Republicans have a very slim margin."
On Strange and McConnell: 'He doesn't even know Mitch'
"He was sort of unfairly labeled. They have him as best friends with Mitch McConnell. He doesn't even know Mitch," Trump said. "I mean, he met him a few months ago. You know when he came into Washington, he got to know him a little bit, but he virtually doesn't even know him, but they tried to put that tag on him. You know politics is a dirty business. You guys might have figured that out by now."
Trump repeatedly referred to Roy Moore as 'Ray'
"(Luther) will absolutely win against the Democrat, whereas Ray's going to have a hard time," Trump said. "If Ray wins, they're going to pour in $30 million, like they did in Atlanta ... The good new is I'm 5-0. I want to make it 6-0. I'm doing it really for the country. We can't lose him."
The host later corrected Trump, and he began referring to Moore by his actual name.
"Roy Moore is going to have a very hard time getting elected against the Democrat," Trump said. "And Luther, they won't even be fighting. He's a guy that they understand, and you check out the polling, they understand he's going to win a very easy race against the Democrats ... It's going to be a tough race for Roy and it's going to be a no-contest for Luther."
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