Donald Trump has won the public embrace of virtually every Republican currently in federal elected office. In private, however, at least one bastion of mild GOP resistance to Trump's takeover remains: the Senate Republican conference. GOP senators demonstrated that resistance today by electing as majority leader Senator John Thune of South Dakota and decisively rejecting the candidate whom Trump's allies preferred for the job, Senator Rick Scott of Florida. Thune, a 63-year-old in his fourth term, most recently served as the top lieutenant to Senator Mitch McConnell, the longtime Republican leader whose relationship with Trump has been famously difficult. Like McConnell, Thune criticized Trump's role in fomenting the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, calling the former president's actions 'inexcusable.' He has since tried to repair the relationship in the hope that Trump would not try to thwart his bid to replace McConnell. Now Thune's partnership with Trump will determine how many...
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