Republican Sen. John Thune Tells CNN Trump and His Candidates Prevented Midterm GOP Wins

Sen. John Thune (R-SD) was happy to point in Donald Trump’s direction when discussing blame for GOP losses in the midterms. The party gained a slim majority in the House, but prevented Democrats from gaining a majority in the Senate after Herschel Walker lost his runoff race in Georgia.

On the heels of Walker’s loss to Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA), CNN chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju caught up with Thune and asked the senator if Trump was a “problem” during the midterms, considering a number of his preferred candidates, including Walker, lost their elections.

“Was Donald Trump a problem this year?” Raju asked.

Thune painted Trump’s presence as a distraction that was ultimately an opportunity for Democrats.

“He was very active of course in the primaries and then even in the general election because he was a presence out there, I think in an election year when it should have been a referendum on the current administration and their policies, the Democrats were in many cases able to kind of turn it into a choice election because of Trump’s presence out there,” the senator said. “Was he a factor? I don’t think there’s any question about that.”

Thune also called out candidates who echoed Trump’s unproven claims of mass fraud in the 2020 presidential election, arguing such candidates do not appeal to voters in the middle.

“A lot of the candidates that had problems in these elections were running on the 2020 election being stolen and I don’t think Independent voters were having it,” he said.

For elections in swing states previously won by President Joe Biden, Trump-endorsed candidates out took two out of 14 in the midterms.

Thune previously blasted Trump this week for his suggestion the Constitution should be suspended. The senator called Trump’s statement a “golden opportunity” for his potential 2024 opponents.

“This is certainly an opportunity to create some contrast,” he told reporters.

Watch above via CNN

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