President Trump went after Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) on Tuesday as he put pressure on GOP senators to back efforts to challenge the Electoral College vote when Congress meets on Jan. 6.
The president lashed out at Senate Republicans on Twitter, claiming that they would have lost seats without his endorsement. Trump also suggested that Thune, the No. 2 Senate Republican, would be “primaried in 2022.”
“Republicans in the Senate so quickly forget. Right now they would be down 8 seats without my backing them in the last Election,” Trump tweeted. “RINO John Thune, ‘Mitch’s boy’, should just let it play out. South Dakota doesn’t like weakness. He will be primaried in 2022, political career over!!!”
The tweet comes after Thune said that efforts to object to the Electoral College vote would “go down like a shot dog” in the Senate. The president is relying on these efforts, led by Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), to overturn the election results.
President-elect Joe Biden won by more than 70 electoral votes, and attempts by Trump and his allies to overturn the election in courts have been unsuccessful.
House conservatives met with the president, Vice President Mike Pence and Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani on Monday to discuss the attempt effort, and several Republican lawmakers said they would object to the results.
However, Brooks would need one senator to join him, and it’s unclear if one will.
Sen.-elect Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) has suggested he will back it, but Thune, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Senate Rules Committee Chairman Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) have urged colleagues not to object to states’ electoral votes.
Meanwhile, the effort will likely not make it past the Democratic-controlled House.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) appeared to rule herself out as a 2022 challenger on Twitter.
“.@johnthune is a friend of mine, and I will not be challenging him,” Noem tweeted. “I’m honored to be Governor of South Dakota and will ask the people to give me an opportunity to continue serving them as Governor in 2022.”