Trump suggests Thune’s future as Senate GOP leader is in doubt
After months in which Senate Majority Leader John Thune has grudgingly had to tell Donald Trump that he can’t always deliver what the president wants, tensions reached a new level in recent weeks, including at a recent rally in Georgia where Trump called out the South Dakota Republican by name.
“It’s like the Senate is where you send things you want them to die,” he said about the Thune-led chamber. “We’re not going to be able to take it much longer.”
A few days later, asked about the president’s perspective on the Senate majority leader, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump’s “patience is running out” with Thune. (She didn’t say what would happen when the president’s patience does run out.)
This week, during an unrelated event in the Oval Office, a reporter reminded Trump that Thune continues to say he lacks the votes to pass a sweeping voter suppression package the White House has labeled the SAVE America Act. “He’s got the votes,” Trump replied, pointing to legislative circumstances that don’t appear to exist. “[Thune] should get it done.”
As part of the same exchange, a reporter asked whether Trump believes Thune is “still the man for the job.”
“Well, we’re going to find out,” the president replied, “and I’ll let you know.”
Punchbowl News reported soon after, “We’ve seen this movie for a decade. President Donald Trump gets tired of an ally he no longer finds useful and kicks them to the curb. Is Senate Majority Leader John Thune heading in that direction?”
Time will tell, but when Thune was asked about Trump’s comments, the South Dakotan told Punchbowl News, “All right. Well, that’s nice of him, I guess. I don’t know — what do you say on that? That’s a decision that’s made by my colleagues.”
It was that last part of his response stood out — because it seemed like a rather pointed reminder that Trump doesn’t get to choose the Senate GOP’s leader. Senate Republicans do.
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Steve Benen is a producer for “The Rachel Maddow Show,” the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He’s also the bestselling author of “Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans’ War on the Recent Past.”
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