Whelp, there goes the John Thune chapter in the next edition of Profiles in Courage. Thune just endorsed Trump
Editor’s note: Profiles in Courage, by John F. Kennedy, was a 1956 study of politicians in U.S. history who defied the opinions of their party and constituents to do and say what they felt was right, suffering a loss of popularity as a result. I doubt that a follow-up by a modern biographer will emerge, mainly because politicians like the ones Kennedy profiled just don’t seem to exist anymore. S.D. Sen. John Thune is a case in point.
Sen. John Thune just endorsed Donald Trump for the presidency, making Trump his second choice for the top job.
Thune’s earlier support for a rival GOP presidential aspirant, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, who Thune endorsed at the start of the primary season, didn’t amount to much. Scott dropped out of the race early on, as did most of the competitors for the party’s presidential nomination.
Only former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is left as a challenger to Trump, and she has so far been getting beaten up pretty badly, which is too bad because Haley’s moxie and messages are something Pubs should admire and seriously consider. Much as I hope she finds a way to pull this out, the GOP seems determined to hand the nomination over to Trump.
I guess that the inevitability of it all is what moved John Thune (seen above in a public domain image posted on wikimedia commons) to climb aboard the Trump bandwagon, a tough decision indeed, considering the straightforward negativity of what Thune has said about Trump.
For example, after voting to acquit Trump during the impeachment trial of February 2021, Thune wrote, “the impeachment trial is over and former President Trump has been acquitted. My vote to acquit should not be viewed as exoneration for his conduct on January 6, 2021, or in the days and weeks leading up to it. What former President Trump did to undermine faith in our election system and disrupt the peaceful transfer of power is inexcusable.”
So it’s right there. Thune’s contempt for Trump is on the record, in language that is clear and unequivocal. His endorsement is such an obvious application of the old “fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me” dictum that you have to wonder what on earth John Thune stands to gain from such a bald-faced concession to the political pressures of the moment.
It isn’t as if Thune hasn’t already stood up to Trump and gotten plenty of blowback as a result. In late 2020, when Thune said a plan cooked up by Republicans in the House of Representatives to overturn the election “would go down like a shot dog,” Trump turned on him with a tsunamic tirade, writing, “RINO John Thune, ‘Mitch's boy’, should just let it play out. South Dakota doesn't like weakness. He will be primaried in 2022, political career over!!!"
As it turned out, of course, Thune’s political career was far from over. He won re-election going away in 2022, pulling in 70% of the vote.
Thune need not fear Trump’s wrath, especially when you consider that Thune can easily call it quits after completing one of the most successful political careers in South Dakota history. And in light of his recent, publicly expressed doubts about Trump’s viability as a candidate, Thune's decision seems all the more enigmatic.
Just last month, Thune told CNN that he’d always been worried about Trump’s candidacy, adding, “general elections are won in the middle of the electorate. All that has repercussions for Senate races, too. If we want to get the majority, we need a strong showing at the top of the ticket that translates into some downballot success.”
This makes a lot of sense on a political level, but Thune has ignored his own analysis. He has also turned a blind eye toward Trump’s “inexcusable” behavior, behavior that “undermined faith in our system,” and now chooses to support Trump for the presidency.
In one moment I don’t get it and in the next, I do.
As to a spot in another “Profiles in Courage?” Forget about it. After this move, Thune might merit a mention in a tome titled “Profiles in Political Expediency.” He had his shot and chose not to take it.
John Tsitrian is a businessman and writer from the Black Hills. He was a weekly columnist for the Rapid City Journal for 20 years. His articles and commentary have also appeared in The Los Angeles Times, The Denver Post and The Omaha World-Herald. Tsitrian served in the Marines for three years (1966-69), including a 13-month tour of duty as a radioman in Vietnam. Reprint with permission.
