GOP Sen. John Thune
John Randolph ThuneMcConnell seeks to end feud with Trump McConnell brushes off Trump's 'son of a b----' comment Democrats work to pick up GOP support on anti-Asian hate crimes bill MORE (S.D.) on Thursday blasted members of his party for rushing to censure the Republican lawmakers who voted in favor of convicting former President Trump
Donald TrumpBiden to move ahead with billion UAE weapons sale approved by Trump Fox News hires high-profile defense team in Dominion defamation lawsuit Associate indicted in Gaetz scandal cooperating with DOJ: report MORE, accusing them of engaging in “cancel culture.”
The Associated Press reported that Thune, the No. 2 Republican senator, defended his GOP colleagues who voted to convict Trump in the first interview he has had since he voted to acquit the former president.
“There was a strong case made,” Thune said. “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.”
As the AP notes, Thune has stood by House Republican Conference Chairwoman Rep. Liz Cheney
Elizabeth (Liz) Lynn CheneyThe Hill's Morning Report - Presented by Tax March - Congress returns; infrastructure takes center stage Sunday shows - Infrastructure dominates Liz Cheney says allegations against Gaetz are 'sickening,' refuses to say if he should resign MORE (R-Wyo.) after she voted to impeach Trump. The Wyoming GOP voted to censure Cheney, and Republican lawmakers such as Rep. Matt Gaetz
Matthew (Matt) GaetzAssociate indicted in Gaetz scandal cooperating with DOJ: report Trump knocks CNN for 'completely false' report Gaetz was denied meeting The Hill's Morning Report - Presented by Tax March - Congress returns; infrastructure takes center stage MORE (Fla.) have led calls for Cheney to be removed from power.
According to the AP, Thune also indicated that he would assist candidates who “don’t go off and talk about conspiracies and that sort of thing.”
“At the grassroots level, there’s a lot of people who want to see Trump-like candidates,” Thune said. “But I think we’re going to be looking for candidates that are electable.”
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 to convict, making it the most bipartisan impeachment vote in history.
Thune indicated last week that he was open to censuring Trump before the final impeachment vote was held.
"I know there are a couple of resolutions out there ... I've seen a couple of resolutions at least that I think could attract some support," Thune said to reporters at the time.
The vote to censure Trump would require 60 Senate votes, meaning Democrats would need 10 Republicans to vote in favor of censure.
Democratic lawmakers have also discussed using the 14th Amendment to prevent Trump from running for federal office again in the future. However, Thune was less supportive of this strategy than he was of censure.
"I don't think ... those will go anywhere," he said last week.
