Actor Samuel L. Jackson is not a fan of U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and wasn't afraid to slam the Kentucky Republican in a profanity-laced interview this week.

In a wide-ranging discussion with Esquire, the 70-year-old star of the movie "Pulp Fiction" and Marvel franchise stalwart was asked if growing up during racial segregation made him angry.

Jackson — who is the highest grossing actor in history with 120 films that have raked in $13.3 billion worldwide — said it didn't anger him while growing up in Chattanooga, Tennessee. However, he quickly pivoted in the interview and directed his anger toward President Donald Trump and McConnell.

"I'm angrier now about it than I was then, just because I see these guys and I know these are the same guys: Trump and all those a--holes, Mitch McConnell," Jackson said. "But they're the same f---ing guys. And when I hear their voices, I hear the same voices. Those twangs where they didn’t specifically call you 'n-----,' they said 'nigra.'"

McConnell's office did not immediately respond Wednesday evening to a request for comment about Jackson's remarks.

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Jackson went further during his interview, saying it was always clear to him what people like Trump and McConnell thought about racial issues.

"There was no doubt about where they stood, that you were never going to be their equal and, if possible, they were going to make sure you never had as much sh-- as they had," Jackson said. "And they were worried about the chasteness of their women, and miscegenation, and not having enough of them, there being more of us than there are of them."

McConnell's defenders often point to his remarks against racial slurs and his praise of civil rights legislation during the 1960s when he has faced charges of racism.

McConnell chastised Everett Corley, a Kentucky Republican who ran for the state legislature last year and who criticized his marriage to U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, who is Asian, during a 2014 appearance on a white nationalist YouTube show.

"This racist behavior is completely despicable," McConnell told the Courier Journal at the time. "Such backwards views and hateful rhetoric must be given no corner in the Republican Party or anywhere in America. I’m not at all surprised that the state party is not affiliated with or in any way supporting this individual."

McConnell also lashed out against pizza mogul John Schnatter, who lives in Kentucky, when the Papa John's founder was skewered last year for using the N-word during a media training session.

McConnell supported removing Schnatter's name from the University of Louisville's football stadium.

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When U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, was scorned nationally for questioning why white nationalism was offensive, McConnell said the congressman "should find another line of work."

But McConnell has been criticized more in recent years for not speaking out against Trump, who has been accused of making several controversial remarks around race.

Among the president's remarks that have raised eyebrows is the consistent reference to Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., as "Pocahontas."

Trump also was roundly criticized in 2017 for having blamed "both sides" for violence during a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where one anti-racist demonstrator was killed.

McConnell's role as majority leader has put him at the epicenter of Trump and his legacy, which includes appointing dozens of conservative judges to the federal bench. He has made it clear on various occasions, including several interviews with the Courier Journal, that he will not comment on Trump's tweets or general remarks.

When Virginia's Democratic governor, Ralph Northam, was blasted for appearing either in blackface or a KKK robe in the early 1980s while in medical school, many of McConnell's critics pointed to a 1989 photo of him smiling in front of the Confederate flag.

The senator's office brushed off those attacks by progressive critics, saying, "the left trots it out every time Sen. McConnell speaks out on race or the Confederate flag."

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Kentucky poet and political activist Hannah Drake said she agrees with Jackson's sentiments given McConnell's silence when it comes to Trump.

There is also a difference between condemning individual acts of racism, such as using certain slurs, while supporting policies that discriminate or disenfranchise minorities, she added.

"Mitch McConnell is in such a position that he can change the course of people's lives," Drake said. "Whether he comes out against these key individuals — that's a good thing to do and that's wonderful — but what are you doing with the power you have?"

Drake pointed to McConnell's refusal to have the Senate vote on a House Democratic measure to reform U.S. elections.

The bill, which McConnell described as a Democratic "power grab," would among other things establish automatic voter registration; make Election Day a national holiday for federal workers; and make colleges and universities voter registration agencies.

"To me being kind of racist is like being kind of pregnant," Drake said. "You're either are or you're not. So either you're going to stand up totally or you're not going to."

Reporter Phillip M. Bailey can be reached at 502-582-4475 or pbailey@courierjournal.com. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/philb.