Thune defies Trump bid to seize state election | Political News

Senate Majority Whip John Thune has soundly rejected President Donald Trump’s call for Republicans to “nationalize” voting in the U.S. and have the GOP “take over” the management of voting in 15 different states. 

Thune, 65, acknowledged that while he approves of requiring voters to show proof of citizenship, he doesn’t assist the federal authorities seizing energy to run elections from the states, as outlined in the Constitution. “I’m supportive of only citizens voting and showing ID at polling places. I think that makes sense,” Thune acknowledged.

“And I think it’s harder to hack 50 election systems than it is to hack one,” Thune commented. “In my view, at least, that’s always a system that has worked pretty well.”

The feedback come as the president called for Republicans to take over elections to eradicate voter fraud in the midterm elections, as the Democrats search to unseat the Republican majority. “The Republicans should say, ‘We want to take over,’” Trump told Dan Bongino, former FBI director and conservative podcast host.

“We ought to take over the voting, the voting in at least many — 15 locations,” the president added. “The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting.”

The call from the president comes as both the Senate and the House search to go the SAVE Act into law. Should the law go, it could require voters to current paperwork such as passports or delivery certificates while registering to vote.

It would also, allegedly, require a large overhaul of the online voter registration system and require states to commonly review voting rolls to purge voters related with defective data. Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has warned that they might vigorously oppose implementing the voting restrictions.

“The SAVE Act is nothing more than Jim Crow 2.0. It would disenfranchise millions of Americans,” Schumer said in a assertion on Monday. “Every single Senate Democrat will vote against any bill that contains it.”

Popping the Cap 

Thune just lately sparred with Trump when the president proposed capping credit card rates of interest. The South Dakota senator said the cap is “not something I’m out there advocating for. Let’s put it that way.”

Trump is calling for the cap because credit card companies have “really abused the public” while “charging Interest Rates of 20 to 30 percent, and even more.” The president first talked about an curiosity restrict on the marketing campaign path in September 2024, calling it non permanent aid while “working Americans catch up.”