Exclusive | Battle to replace Mitch McConnell gets nasty over contender funding lawmakers who voted to impeach Trump

WASHINGTON – President Trump is hoping to replace former Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell — who has repeatedly broken ranks with the White House this year — with a steady ally, but sources tell The Post that a front-runner’s repeat donations to lawmakers who voted to impeach the president are stoking concern among Trump’s inner circle.

Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) donated seven times through his leadership PAC to help four House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump in 2021 for allegedly inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol riot — despite Trump urging his supporters to throw them out of office.

Barr, 51, slammed Trump as “irresponsible” but personally voted not to impeach the 45th president.

Now, the congressman is locked in a three-way race against former state attorney general Daniel Cameron, 39, and garbage removal entrepreneur Nate Morris, 44, for the Senate seat that McConnell has held since 1985.

About a month after leaving the White House in 2021, the former and future president read aloud the names of the 10 House Republicans who had just joined Democrats in voting to impeach him for claiming the 2020 election was stolen and told followers to “get rid of them all.”

Barr had already donated $2,500 that February to then-Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R-Ohio) – who seven months later called Trump “a cancer” and dropped his re-election bid – and continued to back three others who had joined then-Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) in voting to impeach.

Through his PAC, Barr offered $2,000 to then-Rep John Katko (R-NY) on June 15, 2021, $10,000 to Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.) in four installments from June 2021 through August 2022 and $3,000 to then-Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.) in July 2022.

Only Valadao remains a House member.

“Andy Barr didn’t just blame President Trump for the violence on [Jan. 6, 2021], he actively funded the Republicans who voted to impeach him — after the president had already made clear that he was going to target them in primaries,” said a longtime Trump adviser.

“I can’t imagine a bigger slap in the face to the president than that.”

“Everyone in Trump’s circle views Barr as just another one of McConnell’s mentees, meaning you know he’s not going to be there for Trump when things get tough and it really matters,” a source close to the White House added.

Loyalty has been a significant factor in staffing decisions for Trump’s second administration and Barr’s critics hope it will decide the president’s Senate endorsement.

Trump carried the Bluegrass State by 30.53 percentage points Nov. 5 — making him a likely kingmaker in the 2026 primary.

Barr allies argue that he has been a supporter of the president and merely wanted to foster a big-tent GOP to block the Biden-era Democratic agenda and that his PAC has made hundreds of donations.

Barr spokesman Alex Bellizzi pointed to the seven-term congressman’s record of collaboration with Trump and noted a $5,000 donation by Morris to former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley on May 20, 2021.

Haley emerged as Trump’s most enduring 2024 primary challenger, but had said on April 12, 2021 — shortly before Morris’ donation — that “I would not run if President Trump ran.”

Haley later changed her mind and launched her candidacy in February 2023, three months after Trump did so.

Bellizzi also argued that Barr is the most electable Republican — noting that Cameron managed to lose the commonwealth governor’s race by more than five points to Democrat Andy Beshear in 2023.

“Daniel Cameron lost with President Trump’s endorsement in a state the president won by 30 points,” Barr’s spokesman said. “Nate Morris supported Nikki Haley over President Trump after she said the GOP needed to move on from Trump forever. He signed the CEO Diversity Pledge and his ESG company lost $200 million in his final year as CEO by a company trading for pennies on the dollar on the stock exchange.” 

A Morris ally said the chronology of his donation and Haley’s stance on Trump was not accurately reflected in the statement — and argued that the funds were given so that Morris’ wife could attend a Haley event to get a letter autographed for a dying relative.

Morris launched his Senate campaign on Donald Trump Jr.’s podcast last week, pledging to “take out the trash” in Washington before releasing an ad showing him on the back of a dump truck to drive home the message.

It’s unclear when Trump will issue an endorsement and the decision may ultimately be driven by an assessment of candidate viability to avoid a surprise Democratic triumph.

Barr served as Trump’s Kentucky campaign chairman last year and shook his hand in the Oval Office in May.

Although the Senate contest is higher-stakes, the president endorsed Barr for re-election to the House and called him “fantastic” in 2022.