GOP Sen. John Thune
John Randolph ThuneHillicon Valley: Biden to take ‘executive action’ to resolve violation of SolarWinds | Facebook and Google respond to Australian law proposal | DOJ accuses North Korean hackers of stealing 0.3 billion cryptocurrencies. Congress renews pressure on autonomous cars. (SD) criticized members of his party on Thursday for rushing to censor Republican lawmakers who voted in favor of convicting former President Trump
Donald Trump’s federal prosecutors investigated the Proud Boys’ connections to Roger Stone in 2019 case: CNN Overnight Defense: One-third of the military refuses coronary virus vaccine Biden to take executive action in response to the Solar Winds hack | US and Japan reach cost-sharing agreement Trump ‘won’t say yet’ if he’s competing in 2024 MORE, accusing them of being involved in the “culture of cancellation”.
The Associated Press reported that Thune, the second Republican senator, defended his Republican colleagues who voted to condemn Trump in the first interview he gave since he voted to acquit the former president.
“A strong case has been made,” said Thune. “People can come to different conclusions. If we are going to criticize the media and the left for canceling the culture, we cannot do it ourselves ”.
As the AP notes, Thune was representative of the President of the House Republican Conference. Liz Cheney
Elizabeth (Liz) Lynn CheneyMore people say Republican Party representative Greene than Cheney: Republican Party vote getting off track? Trump unloads at McConnell, promises to the main challengers of MAGA MAIS (R-Wyo.) After voting for Trump’s impeachment. The Wyoming Republican Party voted to censor Cheney and Republican lawmakers like Rep. Matt Gaetz
Matthew (Matt) GaetzHogan praises Kinzinger on the Time profile: ‘Adam proved the measure of his courage’ Gaetz suggests that DeSantis could run for president in 2024 if Trump is out of the picture Scarborough says comparisons between Capitol riots and summer protests are irrelevant MORE (Florida) have led calls for Cheney to be removed from power.
According to the AP, Thune also indicated that he would help candidates who “don’t go out and talk about conspiracies and that kind of thing”.
“At the grassroots level, there are a lot of people who want to see candidates like Trump,” said Thune. “But I think we are going to look for candidates who are elected.”
Trump was acquitted last week for the second time, after the Senate failed to secure the 67 votes needed to convict him. Seven Republican senators voted for the conviction, making it the most bipartisan impeachment vote in history.
Thune indicated last week that he was open to censor Trump before the final impeachment vote is held.
“I know there are some resolutions out there … I saw some resolutions that I think could attract some support,” Thune told reporters at the time.
The vote to censor Trump would require 60 votes in the Senate, meaning that Democrats would need 10 Republicans to vote in favor of censorship.
Democratic lawmakers also discussed using the 14th Amendment to prevent Trump from running for federal office again in the future. However, Thune supported this strategy less than censorship.
“I don’t think … it’s going anywhere,” he said last week.