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Thune wins unlikely fans after pushing back on evidence-free election claims

June 10, 2026 | | Print Article

Playing politics bolstered Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s (R-SD) RINO credentials as he appeared to adopt a blasé attitude on election integrity concerns.

In the week since the California jungle primary election, the country watched as Spencer Pratt’s commanding second place finish to head to a November runoff in the Los Angeles mayor race was steadily chipped away until he was eliminated from the contest. Despite “multiple election fraud investigations” from the Justice Department, Thune downplayed concerns over an alleged lack of proven cheating.

Appearing on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” discussion on the continued DOA treatment of the SAVE America Act by Republican leaders in the Senate found Thune addressing California, saying, “Frankly, you have to prove if there was cheating, and, uh, and clearly, uh, that’s something that you would have to do in California or anywhere else for that matter.”

“But the fact that it takes days — literally days — to be able to count votes in a state like California, when there are other states around the country who do that very quickly and get an outcome and a result, uh, it’s, it’s incompetence if nothing else,” he went on. “And you know, whether or not there was actual rigging is something that’d have to be proven. But clearly this is a system in California that doesn’t work and doesn’t inspire confidence and trust in voters, by the voters, I should say.

The statement was positively received by figures on the left, including “Pod Save America” co-host Tommy Vietor.

“This is a totally fair criticism by [Thune] and one shared by many Democrats in California,” reacted the onetime spokesman for President Barack Obama. “Appreciate him not spreading disinformation like @MeghanMcCain and many others who let internet brain rot convince them that Spencer Pratt was going to get elected may or LA.”

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Thune’s position on election integrity concerns came the same day he insisted that the SAVE America Act could not pass under the current make up the Senate, disregarding clearance of the 50-vote threshold due to the lack of favor to do away with the zombie filibuster.

He said during a press conference, “it’s not something we’re gonna be able to get done absent having an election and electing some more Republicans.”

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The Senate Leader’s stance came as President Donald Trump had called on him to fire the Senate Parliamentarian “who treats Republicans, and everything that they stand for, horribly” with the end goal being a favorable replacement to get passed the filibuster issue.

“She is known as a Radical Left Lunatic that caters to Democrats,” said the president of Elizabeth MacDonough, who has held the position since 2012, “and has no respect for Republicans, or Republican Ideology.”

Along with the praise from the left, Thune received renewed barbs from the right, including being deemed a “traitor” for failing to get a bill supported by a vast majority of Americans passed.

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Kevin Haggerty
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