Senate Republicans are expected to vote for leadership later this week. A number of President Donald J. Trump’s allies have thrown their support behind Sen. Rick Scott, but the Florida Senator is an underdog as he competes with Republican Senators John Cornyn and John Thune for the top spot.
The vote will unfortunately be done by secret ballot. While many of his supporters have endorsed Scott, like Elon Musk, Trump has not publicly declared a preferred candidate.
Trump did post a request on Twitter, though. Any GOP Senator seeking the leadership spot, he said, must agree to recess appointments in the Senate.
According to Benny Johnson, a leaked list of where each U.S. Senator currently leans as of now was released on Sunday. According to the list shared by Johnson, Thune leads with 24 votes, Cornyn has 18 and Scott has 11.
Senators Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley are both listed as supporting Cornyn.
Cornyn said in a statement in 2021 that he agreed with Speaker Nancy Pelosi that a 9/11-type of investigation is called for to examine and address the “January 6 attack” on the Capitol, which he called “horrific and appalling.”
Cornyn said that too many public officials, including Trump, used “reckless and incendiary speech.”
After the RNC put forth a resolution that categorized Jan. 6 as a “legitimate political discourse,” Cornyn was one of few Republicans to criticize it.
Thune and Cornyn both criticized Trump’s comments earlier this year that Jan. 6 prisoners are “hostages.”
“I don’t condone that characterization at all, no,” Thune told The Hill. “We got a justice system and they’re working through it.
Cornyn said someone convicted of a federal crime is “not a hostage.”
“I’m a big believer in our criminal justice system and believe that people are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law,” Cornyn said. “But once they are, I accept that verdict and that judgment.”
Thune, for his part, said that while he voted to acquit President Trump at the end of his impeachment trial, that vote shouldn’t be viewed as an exoneration for Trump’s conduct on Jan. 6.
“What former President Trump did to undermine faith in our election system and disrupt the peaceful transfer of power is inexcusable,” Thune said.
Thune called the actions of protestors at the Capitol on Jan. 6 “thuggery.”
Sen. Rick Scott voted against certifying President Joe Biden’s victory in 2020, while Thune and Cornyn supported certification.
Thune was a vocal opponent of efforts to delay the certification of the 2020 election. On Dec. 22, 2020, Thune predicted the election challenge would “go down like a shot dog.”
“I just don’t think that it makes a lot of sense to put everybody through this,” Thune said.
In fact, following Jan. 6, Thune suggested Trump should be held accountable for his actions leading up to the Capitol protest “in a court of law.”
To be fair, Sen. Rick Scott called the actions of protestors on Jan. 6 un-American. Yet he still voted against certifying the election.
Finally, if their record actually matters, it is worth noting that Heritage has scored these individuals during the last session as such:
Sen. Rick Scott 92%
Sen. John Thune 37%
Sen. John Cornyn 35%
CPAC offered its ratings for the candidates:
Sen. Rick Scott 90% (since Trump)
Sen. John Cornyn 77% (since Trump)
Sen. John Thune 76% (since Trump)
This is a hill I’m willing to die. I will do everything in my power including the poison pill of voting for a democrat if anyone but Scott gets elected.