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.
