John Thune says Trump supporters are indulging in cancel culture [SLoPYoFjbes]
Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell's deputy Sen. June Thune is striking out at state parties who have censured or condemned fellow Republicans who voted to convict Donald Trump at his impeachment trial.Thune, who has worked his way up the leadership ladder and is a key ally to McConnell, warned of 'cancel culture' within the state parties and party activists – a stinging dig that Trump himself has used to blast those who would silence him or seek to pressure conservative opinion. He has a Capitol office located just steps from where angry rioters breached the Senate chamber, but decided not to vote to convict Trump of incitement of insurrection. In his first interview since he voted to acquit Trump, the Senate's No. 2 Republican defended fellow Republicans who sided with Democrats on the 'vote of conscience' and warned against shutting out dissenting voices in the party. 'There was a strong case made,' Thune said of the Democrats' impeachment presentation. 'People could come to different conclusions. If we´re going to criticize the media and the left for cancel culture, we can´t be doing that ourselves.' His comments come after McConnell accused Trump of 'a disgraceful dereliction of duty' for his role in the Jan. 6th riot. Trump spoke to a crowd of supporters urging them to 'fight' just minutes before a MAGA mob stormed the Capitol.McConnell wrote in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal that 'There is no question former President Trump bears moral responsibility. His supporters stormed the Capitol because of the unhinged falsehoods he shouted into the world's largest megaphone.'His behavior during and after the chaos was also unconscionable, from attacking Vice President Mike Pence during the riot to praising the criminals after it ended.'Thune's pushback comes after a number of state parties went after Republicans who parted with Trump. Among those censured was retiring Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina and Ben Sasse of Nebraska. Trump mocked Thune, calling him 'Mitch's boy' two days before Christmas, amid Trump's effort to overturn the election results, then torched him again on January 1, tweeting: 'I hope to see the great Governor of South Dakota @KristiNoem, run against RINO @JohnThune, in the upcoming 2022 Primary. She would do a fantastic job in the U.S. Senate, but if not Kristi, others are already lining up. South Dakota wants strong leadership, NOW!'Trump, now banned from Twitter, publicly struck from his new home at Mar-a-Lago, back in a blistering statement trashing McConnell.He called McConnell a 'dour, sullen', 'unsmiling political hack' and accused McConnell of 'destroying' the GOP and urged the party's senators to end his leadership. He also has vowed to get involved in GOP primaries to try to force out people he considers 'RINOs.'Thune's remarks were his first explaining his vote in Trump's trial and assessing the turbulent GOP politics the former president has left behind. Thune, who is facing reelection next year in d