In a secret-ballot vote scheduled for Wednesday, Republicans in the U.S. Senate are expected to select the next Majority Leader from among their ranks to replace Mitch McConnell. The wily political veteran, who is 88, is stepping down after serving as Minority Leader during President Joe Biden’s term.
'They want change'
The leading contenders to replace McConnell are John Cornyn or John Thune, the current Republican Whip. Both men are no doubt lobbying their colleagues behind the scenes for the powerful job but a third contender, Sen. Rick Scott, is getting grassroots support from conservatives in an unlikely bid to defeat Cornyn and Thune in just two days.
Scott, a two-term Florida governor, was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2018 and won a second term last week. That makes him a new face, with very little political clout, in the 100-member body famous for political favors and seniority.
"I've been talking to my Republican colleagues, guess what. They want change," Scott told Fox News. "They know that Trump has a mandate. They want to be part of that mandate. They want to be treated as equals."
Thanks to the secret ballot, however, Scott will never know which colleagues talked a good game about change but chose a promised committee seat, or passage of a bill, instead.
Senator-elect has 'more questions'
In an interview about the pending vote, Senator-elect Jim Banks tells AFN he has listened to all three senators make their case but, as a Monday, remains undecided.
Banks, who represents Indiana's 3rd Congressional District, won an open U.S. Senate seat last week.
"There's a candidate forum that all the senators, and senators-elect like myself, will be a part of," he advises. "And I have more questions. So I'm going to withhold my decision about who to vote for."
The selection of Majority Leader is important, Banks says, because Trump was elected with a mandate just as he was back in 2016. Banks recalls being a freshman congressman back then - and it wasn't good.
"We had Republican leadership in the House and the Senate, and they worked against President Trump's agenda," Banks says. "So we can't repeat that mistake this time."
Trump himself has not publicly endorsed any other the three GOP senators but instead has demanded the new Majority Leader support recess appointments. Trump will need that executive power to fill his administration, which he has when the Senate is in recess, and all three senators have stated they support it.
Musk calls Thune 'top choice' for Dems
Walker Wildmon, vice president of AFA Action, tells AFN his organization is supporting Scott over Cornyn and Thune because they represent Washington's entrenched political establishment.
“This is a bad move,” Wildmon says of senators choosing one of the two senior senators. "And it's really anti-conservative and against President Trump's mandate to radically change Washington, D.C."
Many others agree with that observation, too, such as Federalist boss Sean Davis. He supports Scott, despises his two opponents, and opposes the secret ballot.
“Republican senators want a secret vote on leadership elections,” Davis wrote, “so their voters won’t know who they’ve actually outsourced all of their power to.”
Elon Musk, who also supports Scott, wrote in an X post that Sen. Thune is “the top choice for Democrats.”
In another X post, Trump supporter Benny Johnson pointed out that Sen. Thune posted a statement on the one-year anniversary of the January 6 riot at the Capital. The statement says Thune saw the “violence and lawlessness” that day, and he thanked the police and National Guard who defended the Capitol.
Democrats and the liberal media have capitalized on the riot for four years, referring to it as an “insurrection” against the federal government and blaming Trump himself for instigating it.
Sen. Thune is the target of numerous X posts viewed by AFN but Sen. Cornyn has not escaped criticism, either. A post from June 2022, reposted over the weekend, reminded conservatives that Thune was booed two years ago at a gathering of the Texas Republican Convention.
In another X post criticizing Sen. Cornyn, talk show host Jesse Kelly said the Texas senator is the favorite to win the vote for Majority Leader.
"If you could get in a lab and build the worst person to be the next GOP senate leader," Kelly warned, "you’d build John Cornyn."
Kelly also suggested Trump should publicly support Scott or watch a "continuation of McConnell" with Cornyn or Thune.
According to Wildmon, Sen. Scott is enjoying a “groundswell of grassroots support” in his bid to be Senate Majority Leader.
“There are hundreds of organizations and individuals around President Trump that are supporting Rick Scott,” he tells AFN.
Editor's Note: AFA Action is a division of the American Family Association, the parent organization of the American Family News Network, which operates AFN.net.
