Former President Donald Trump mocked Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's support during a campaign rally in North Carolina on Sunday as a “painful day” for the senator.

McConnell, who has led the Republican Party in the US Senate since 2007, clashed particularly with Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, after the 2020 election. Privately, McConnell called Trump “stupid” and “despicable,” according to a biography of the senator published last week. Publicly, he said that Trump was “practically and morally responsible” for provoking the insurrection at the US Capitol that took place on January 6, 2021.

Meanwhile, Trump also harshly criticized McConnell after his election loss, claiming the senator was “hanging on by a thread.”

Ultimately, McConnell put aside his concerns and supported Trump in the 2024 election against Vice President Kamala Harris, rather than opposing the former president as some senior Republicans have done throughout the cycle. McConnell had promised to support the Republican nominee “regardless of who he is” and that Trump “deserves the nomination.”

During a campaign rally in Kinston, North Carolina, on Sunday, just days before Election Day, Trump mocked the endorsement, saying it “must have been a painful day in his life.”

“Hopefully we get rid of Mitch McConnell soon… Can you believe he supported me? Boy, that must have been a painful day in his life. Every time I think about it, he didn't have to do that.” “He provided the necessary votes. “What a shame,” Trump said.

Newsweek emailed Trump's campaign and McConnell's office seeking comment.

Trump's comments come after McConnell will vacate his seat in January 2027 after nearly four decades, but will relinquish his role as Senate Republican leader this month.

Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, and Sen. John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota, have emerged as leading candidates to succeed McConnell as Senate Republican leader.

McConnell is the longest-serving Senate leader in US history. He served as Senate Majority Leader from 2015 to 2021, when Democrats regained control of the Legislature.

Political analysts previously spoken to Newsweek are largely dissatisfied with Cornyn and Thune's decisions and consider them to be “conventional” options, but are unable to identify alternatives that could be factored into the competition. Only Sen. Rick Scott, a Republican from Florida, is mentioned as a third option, but most have not considered him as a serious candidate.

Gregory Koger, a political scientist and professor of political science at the University of Miami, said previously Newsweek that the election of McConnell's successor would prove “critical to the Senate's future as a legislative body.”

“The new leader can restore the Senate Republican Party’s engagement in the legislative process and seek to pass bipartisan legislation that is consistent with conservative principles in the national interest,” Koger said. “Or Senate Republicans can continue to paralyze the chamber so that decision-making power passes to the executive and judicial branches.”

Jason Cabel Roe, a political and communications strategist with more than three decades of campaign experience at all levels of government, called McConnell “one of a kind” who is “irreplaceable” because of his “mastery of the legislative process and ability to navigate” the Senate's Byzantine culture and his understanding of the caucus.”

He added: “I think it comes down to who the caucus believes can effectively coexist with President Trump if he wins, or who is better prepared to stop a Harris agenda if she wins.”