(NewsNation) — U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell over the weekend was heckled during his remarks at an event in his home state of Kentucky.
Earlier in the day McConnell received a much warmer reception, with loud applause and even a standing ovation, while giving a breakfast speech at Fancy Farm, an annual picnic in Graves County seen as Kentucky’s jumping-off point for the fall campaign season. A number of other people spoke there, including the state’s Democratic governor, Andy Beshear.
It was the video of people booing McConnell that garnered attention on social media. On X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, a video clip of the jeers received millions of views, and more than 50,000 likes.
Video of the event shows the crowd chanting “Retire” at McConnell. They also yell “Lost the Senate” — a reference to the fact that Democrats retained their majority in that chamber during last year’s mid-term elections.
Even in the midst of this some people did cheer when McConnell criticized Beshear. And at the breakfast speech earlier that day, he received a rousing welcome and standing ovation, Newsweek reported.
Fancy Farm is known locally as a raucous event — as one Senate Republican aide told NewsNation partner The Hill, cheers, jeers and “political haymakers” are standard fare. Both Republican and Democrat politicians are often shouted down. WKU reported Beshear and his GOP challenger, Attorney General Daniel Cameron, also at Fancy Farm, traded jabs and even had to shout their way through speeches to avoid being drowned out by cheering and booing.
Media outlets noted it was Democrats in the audience heckling McConnell — but there was at least one prominent Republican who also supported the sentiment.
Posting a video clip of McConnell getting jeered on his social media platform, Truth Social, former President Donald Trump wrote, “I AGREE! BOOOOO — RETIRE, RETIRE, RETIRE — BOOOOO!!!”
Trump, as well as other GOP voters who support him, have feuded with McConnell after the Kentucky legislator refuted the former president’s claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.
A conservative commentator, Benny Johnson, shared the video on X and claimed “it’s over” for McConnell in a caption, to which Elon Musk replied with a saluting emoji.
McConnell’s appearance at Fancy Farm comes amid renewed scrutiny of his health after he froze up midsentence during a recent Capitol Hill news conference. A spokesperson for McConnell said after the incident that the senator plans to serve his full term.
“This is my 28th Fancy Farm, and I want to assure you it’s not my last,” McConnell said, in a vague reference to his health at the event.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.