Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) stated on Monday that there is “very little election fraud” and that he isn’t overly concerned about threats to democracy, Axios has reported.

McConnell’s remarks came on the heels of a national NBC News poll that showed voters ranked threats to American democracy as the top issue facing the country. The same survey also revealed that 57 percent of American voters support various investigations into alleged criminal activities by former President Donald Trump.

Per NBC, when asked about Americans ranking threats to democracy higher than other issues like inflation, McConnell told reporters: “I do think it’s an important issue. There were those who were trying to prevent the orderly transfer of power for the first time in American history,” after the 2020 presidential election, “and that was not good.

“But look, I think we have a very solid democracy. I don’t think of the things that we need to worry about, I wouldn’t be worried about that one,” he continued.

Meanwhile, per The Hill, Trump ramped up his feud with McConnell by calling him a “broken down hack politician.” He also took aim at former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, whom he labeled as a “crazy wife.”

“Why do Republicans Senators allow a broken down hack politician, Mitch McConnell, to openly disparage hard working Republican candidates for the United States Senate,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social on Saturday.

“This is such an affront to honor and to leadership. He should spend more time (and money!) helping them get elected, and less time helping his crazy wife and family get rich on China!” he continued.

In Kentucky late last week, McConnell downplayed expectations of Republicans capturing control of the Senate in the midterm elections, citing “candidate quality” as a key factor.

“I think there’s probably a greater likelihood the House flips than the Senate. Senate races are just different—they're statewide, candidate quality has a lot to do with the outcome,” he said during a Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce luncheon, per NBC News.

“Right now, we have a fifty-fifty Senate and a fifty-fifty country, but I think when all is said and done this fall, we’re likely to have an extremely close Senate, either our side up slightly or their side up slightly,” he added.

According to FiveThirtyEight, Democrats are favored to win the Senate, 63 percent to 37 percent, while Republicans hold a sizable lead when it comes to the House, 79 percent to 21 percent.

Ethen Kim Lieser is a Washington state-based Finance and Tech Editor who has held posts at Google, The Korea Herald, Lincoln Journal Star, AsianWeek, and Arirang TV. Follow or contact him on LinkedIn.

Image: Reuters.