I mean, he might as well have said, "promises made, promises I’ll likely break." Sen. John Thune (R-SD) was easily reelected to lead Senate Republicans as they enter the minority next year, along with the rest of the leadership slate. The Senate’s lack of urgency and action partially contributed to the blue wave.
Some record of accomplishment. @LarryOConnor mocks John Thune’s pitch to stay Senate GOP leader after the election disaster: “Did you see John Thune on the campaign trail at all saying any of this? Me neither.” “Did John Thune secure the border? Did I miss something there?” “By the way, there’s a ton of judges waiting to be confirmed right now. Why weren’t those taken care of? Why are we waiting for a lame duck session to do that?”
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) November 9, 2026
The House got things done, and the Senate would just let it die in quicksand. The circus over DHS funding last Presidents' Day weekend and the now-dead Save America Act—Thune is an exceptional leader at crashing into the guardrails. And now, we’re entrusting him to fight as the minority leader. I’m prepared to be a doormat.
Thune suggests that there wasn't a ton Republicans could have done differently to avoid the midterm losses and said in meetings today he "wasn't apologizing for anything that we did." ` He said that tax cuts are "the most consequential piece of legislation I've worked on" and blamed government shutdowns for slowing down the GOP Congress "I think on the political side, I don't know what else we want. There was a lot of money that we raised ... but it's a good example that money sometimes doesn't matter if you don't have the winning message"
— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) November 10, 2026
Thune suggests that there wasn't a ton Republicans could have done differently to avoid the midterm losses and said in meetings today he "wasn't apologizing for anything that we did." `
He said that tax cuts are "the most consequential piece of legislation I've worked on" and blamed government shutdowns for slowing down the GOP Congress
"I think on the political side, I don't know what else we want. There was a lot of money that we raised ... but it's a good example that money sometimes doesn't matter if you don't have the winning message"
And that’s after his tweet got ratioed to death, pelted like Bonnie and Clyde:
https://t.co/7WuV5aTLFC
— Leader John Thune (@LeaderJohnThune) November 10, 2026
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