President Trump on Tuesday tore into the five Republican senators who voted to limit his authority to carry out a second military operation in Venezuela, ripping each of them individually as well as dubbing the group collectively as “real losers.”
Republican Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Josh Hawley of Missouri and Todd Young of Indiana last week sided with Democrats to support a War Powers Act resolution to curb Mr. Trump’s ability to attack Venezuela.
The president also took a jab at former Sen. Mitt Romney, Utah Republican, one of his most frequent and vocal critics since Mr. Trump first ran for office in 2016. Mr. Romney left the Senate last year.
“They stick together,” Mr. Trump said of Democrats. “They don’t have some of the people that we have. We got some real losers.
“[Democrats] don’t have a Mitt Romney that votes against everything. They don’t have a Rand Paul that votes against everything,” Mr. Trump said in a speech at the Detroit Economic Club.
He called Mr. Paul a “stone-cold loser” and labeled him as ungrateful, saying that he headlined three rallies for the Kentucky Republican only to have him reject his agenda.
“Then you have Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins,” Mr. Trump continued, calling the two senators “disasters.”
“And then you have a gentleman from Indiana, Todd Young,” the president said. “You say, ‘Why are you voting against [the Venezuela operation]?’ They can’t give you an answer. They’re unable to give you an answer. It’s like, ‘Why are they against the attack on Venezuela?’ They’re against the attack after they found it was the most successful attack, probably.”
The five senators singled out by Mr. Trump advanced the Democratic-led measure to block Mr. Trump from using military force against Venezuela without congressional approval.
The measure must still clear the GOP-controlled House and be signed into law by Mr. Trump, which he made clear he will not do.
Sen. Josh Hawley, Missouri Republican, also voted to advance the measure. However, he was not mentioned in Mr. Trump’s remarks on Tuesday.
