By Alexandra Garrett
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Don Thrasher, the chairman of the Nelson County Republican Party in Kentucky, called on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to resign on Tuesday.
"Given that the county party that I represent supports President Trump overwhelmingly, and your complete and total disdain for the will of your constituents here in Nelson county I am formally demanding you immediately resign your leadership position within our party's caucus in the United States Senate," Thrasher said in a statement, referring to McConnell.
"The overwhelming number of Republicans in Nelson County are not on your side on this issue, and I speak on their behalf," Thrasher continued, adding that McConnell's "leadership in the US Senate does not represent the Republican voters that put our faith in you in the last primary election."
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McConnell has faced backlash from Republicans after he became a vocal critic of former President Donald Trump.
McConnell voted to acquit Trump in the Senate on the impeachment charge of inciting the mob riot that occurred at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on January 6. The Kentucky senator, however, said he only voted to acquit because he did not believe the Senate can constitutionally convict a president no longer in office.
In a speech on the Senate floor following the vote, McConnell blamed Trump for starting the riot, saying that "there's no question—none—that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day."
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Trump has since issued a scathing statement against McConnell on Monday, calling him "a dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack"
"If Republican Senators are going to stay with him, they will not win again," Trump said of McConnell in his statement. "He will never do what needs to be done, or what is right for our country."
Thrasher told The Washington Post that McConnell "stirred up the hornets' nest even worse" with his floor speech, adding that the speech only made more people mad.
"There are people that are more mad now because it just seems kind of duplicitous to a lot of people," Thrasher said. "He is trying to straddle the fence, and he is not making anybody happy doing that."
McConnell has seen his approval rating drop 29 points among Kentucky constituents following the November election and his subsequent fallout with Trump, according to a Tuesday Morning Consult survey.
Only 41 percent of Republican voters in Kentucky now approve of McConnell—down from 70 percent before the November election.
Newsweek reached out to the Nelson County Republican Party but did not hear back in time for publication.
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