GOP Senator Who Called For Trump To Withdraw Now Signals He’ll Vote For Him

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, July 12, 2016. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, July 12, 2016. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

The third-ranking Republican senator signaled Tuesday that he would vote for Donald Trump despite calling for him to withdraw from the race on Saturday.

“He has a lot of work to do, I think, to win this election,” Sen. John Thune (R-SD) told the Rapid City Journal. “But, I’m certainly not going to vote for Hillary Clinton.”

Thune called the leaked “Access Hollywood” clip of Trump talking about groping women without their consent, which initially prompted him to withdraw his support, “more offensive than anything I’ve ever seen.”

Still, he told the Rapid City Journal, he held out hope that his party’s nominee “will lay out what he wants to do for the American people” in the final weeks before Election Day to earn his vote.

Thune is not the only Republican to reverse course after dropping Trump in the fallout from the leaked tape. Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE) announced Tuesday that she planned to vote for Trump after calling for his running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R), to replace him at the top of the ticket. Fischer said her stance changed once she realized Trump would not drop out.

Latest Livewire
79
Show Comments

Notable Replies

  1. Gonna have to add another chapter

  2. Avatar for meri meri says:

    I’m sure our press will get right on that.

  3. Avatar for jinnj jinnj says:

    Integrity ? what does that have to do with anything involving Thune? plus his advisors told him that his big in-state backers would abandon him if he persisted with this “follow his conscience” crap.

  4. ‘That tape was SO offensive’ but not so much that I will stand on the side of WOMEN. For God’s sake…I might as well vote for Hillary. Way to go Thune.

  5. Any minute now McCain and Ayotte will be doing the same…

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

73 more replies

Participants

Avatar for ajaykalra Avatar for kendyzdad Avatar for jeffgee1 Avatar for charliee Avatar for meri Avatar for mattinpa Avatar for clunkertruck Avatar for mjv135 Avatar for ecmiles Avatar for sandyh Avatar for inversion Avatar for whitehat Avatar for ottnott Avatar for jinnj Avatar for glenn414 Avatar for ljb860 Avatar for jimbo92107 Avatar for gusfabriani Avatar for susanintheoc Avatar for tiowally Avatar for boulderdash Avatar for polisong Avatar for gregangelo Avatar for columbiatexan

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: