WASHINGTON — For months Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has refused to say anything about former President Donald Trump’s mounting legal challenges and new campaign for the White House.

Trump, however, has shown no reluctance to speak out against McConnell. Most recently, the former president criticized the minority leader in a sit-down interview with Tucker Carlson. Trump spoke with Carlson instead of attending the Republican presidential debate.

Trump’s pre-taped interview with the former Fox News host was released on X, the platform once known as Twitter, just a few minutes before the debate started.

“If you sit down with a friendly reporter, you’re going to get less of a debate, more of a discussion you want,” said Peter Loge, director of the Project on Ethics in Political Communication at George Washington University.

In addition to taking on fellow candidates, the former president used the opportunity to lace into McConnell, who has become a familiar target for Trump.

“It’s too bad I endorsed him, he was begging, he was going to lose that race and I endorsed him,” Trump claimed in the interview.

Trump is referring to McConnell’s 2020 victory over Democrat Amy McGrath. In an attempt to oust McConnell, out-of-state Democrats put a lot of money into that race.

“Donald Trump did not save Mitch McConnell’s Senate seat,” said Loge. “Sen. McConnell was going to get re-elected. It’s a Republican state. He’s the leading Republican in the United States Senate. He’s tremendously powerful and tremendously popular in his home state.”

Trump also claimed that McConnell wanted to impeach him after Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, trying to block Joe Biden from becoming president.

“Trump has made it very clear, the moment you are praising him, he will stand by you and support you,” Loge said. “The moment you turn against him, he will lambaste you to his followers.”

When the Senate actually voted on impeachment, McConnell voted against it.

“He did say that Trump is basically responsible for the insurrection on Jan. 6, so Trump is accurate in that,” Loge said. “However, when it came down to what actually mattered, the action that mattered, Sen. McConnell voted against impeachment so it’s, sort of, what you say versus what you do.”

If Trump wins the presidential election and McConnell continues to lead Senate Republicans, the two would have to work together on legislation and presidential nominations, especially if Republicans retake control of the Senate. Trump’s continued criticism of McConnell raises questions about how that relationship would work.