Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., privately fumed over then-National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Chairman Rick Scott’s last-minute leadership challenge in 2022, calling it an attempt to distract from the “bad job’ of the Republican in Florida. the Republican Senate campaign arm, according to a forthcoming biography.

“McConnell was furious with Scott,” Michael Tackett, deputy bureau chief of the Associated Press in Washington, wrote in the book “The Price of Power.”

“He’s angry about it because since he became leader he’s always been in charge of the conversation during a midterm session, and this has changed that,” former McConnell chief of staff Josh Holmes said in the biography.

The leader said at the time, according to the book, “I don’t think Rick is a very good victim.”

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McConnell was reportedly “furious” when Scott challenged his re-election as leader. (Reuters)

“I think he did a poor job of running the committee (Senate campaign committee). His plan was only used by Democrats against our candidates last weekend (before the election). He promoted the fiction we were in the middle of. a major cleanup effort when there was no tangible evidence of it,” McConnell reportedly added.

He was referring to an 11-point agenda “to Rescue America” that Scott published when he was chairman of the NRSC, the book said. The plan was unveiled after McConnell, the longtime Republican leader, rejected attempts to advance such an agenda before the midterm elections, seeing it as a mistake.

According to the biography, which was previewed by Fox News Digital, McConnell believed he was right about this and found Scott’s plan “laughably bad.”

The leader specifically deplored parts of Scott’s plan that stated that all Americans would have to pay some level of income tax, and that “all federal law expires in five years. If a law is worth enforcing, Congress can re-enact it .”

These were things McConnell expected Democrats to take advantage of, especially since the latter could be construed as a danger to Social Security and Medicare.

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McConnell is the longest-serving party leader in Senate history. (AP/J. Scott Applewhite)

According to the upcoming book, McConnell stated that Scott’s “campaign against me was kind of an ill-fated attempt to take the attention away from him and put it on someone else” when Republicans failed to take back the Senate majority in the midterm elections.

At the time, the leader reportedly said, “We had a good opportunity to discuss the differences, people had an opportunity to listen to both candidates, and I’m quite proud of 37 to 10,” referring to the vote totals in the election. secret ballot.

The Kentucky Republican was reportedly not offended by Scott’s challenge. According to the book, he even took great pleasure in the personal victory.

“McConnell reveled in the victory as if he had hoodwinked Dicky McGrew in his youth,” Tackett wrote. Tackett said McGrew was a “friend and foe” of the young McConnell, who bullied him until his father demanded he confront his bully. The now Republican leader fought against McGrew as a child, despite the latter being bigger and stronger, the book said.

His deep private pleasure from overcoming Scott’s challenge was an example of a “competitive fire” noted in the biography that “could sometimes flare hotter when he was confronting Republicans who opposed him than when he was tangled with the Democrats.”

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Scott attempted to take over in 2022. (Alex Wong)

McConnell has given this greater credence in recent comments in Kentucky during Congress’s recess. Explaining that “I’m still a traditional Republican: pro-trade, low taxes, pro-business,” he told the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, “there are some on my side now who don’t sound like that.”

“I’m probably going to argue with them more than I do with the Democrats. Again, depending on what the election will look like.”

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Scott responded to McConnell’s revealed comments about himself, saying, “While Leader McConnell and I have fundamental differences, I am shocked that just two weeks later he named a fellow Republican senator and the Republican nominee for presidency would attack from an election.”

Scott was referring to McConnell’s several outspoken past criticisms of former President Donald Trump, as detailed in the book.

While Trump is vying for the presidency against Vice President Kamala Harris, Scott is also seeking re-election in Florida.

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Senators John Cornyn, John Thune and Rick Scott are contenders in the race to succeed Mitch McConnell as leader. (Getty Images)

“I think we should talk about solutions, he doesn’t,” Scott continued. “I support Donald Trump and his work to fundamentally change the way Washington operates, he is not doing that. I believe we should support the candidates that Republican voters choose, he doesn’t.”

“With nearly $36 trillion in debt, an open southern border, historic inflation and a world on fire, I know we need dramatic change, and he doesn’t.”

As for McConnell’s comments about Trump, detailed in the book, he said in a statement: “Whatever I’ve said about President Trump pales in comparison to what J.D. Vance, Lindsey Graham and others have said about him, but we stand “All on the same team now.”

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The leader, who is the longest-serving party head in Senate history, notably announced in February that he would not seek to lead the Republican conference again, creating that opportunity for the first time in years.

Earlier this year, Scott launched another leadership bid. In 2022, he received 10 votes in a secret ballot after announcing a last-minute campaign against McConnell.

Both Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, have also thrown their hats into the race.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more on our Fox News Digital election hub.