In the weeks leading up to Jan. 6, 2021, Senate Republican leaders knew that Donald Trump was pressuring their members to reject certification of Joe Biden’s victory, but they pleaded with GOP senators to discard the outgoing president’s wishes. In fact, Senate Republican leaders told members there wasn’t even any point in trying, since the radical scheme wouldn’t work anyway.
Republican Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the then-majority whip publicly conceded in December 2020 that the plan to reject election certification “would go down like a shot dog.”
Trump wasn’t pleased. In fact, the defeated president labeled Thune a “RINO” (“Republican in Name Only”) on social media, adding, “South Dakota doesn’t like weakness. He will be primaried in 2022, political career over!!!”
In 2022, Thune ran unopposed — in both the primary and the general election. What’s more, his career was far from over, and he became the Senate majority leader early last year.