OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Billionaire Elon Musk has jumped into the fray amid the ongoing battle over who will be the next Senate Majority Leader candidate as Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) prepares to retire.
Senators Rick Scott (R-FL), John Cornyn (R-TX), and John Thune (R-SD) are competing against each other in the three-way contest for the top spot.
According to the AP, Cornyn was McConnell’s second-in-command before Thune, who is now in that role. While Scott has long been a Trump supporter, Thune and Cornyn have both been characterized as “more establishment Republicans, top McConnell allies, and sometimes critics of Trump.”
“(Republican) Senator Thune is the top choice of Democrats 🤣🤣,” Musk wrote, mocking Thune.
About an hour later, Musk posted, “Rick Scott for Senate Majority Leader!!
(Republican) Senator Thune is the top choice of Democrats 🤣🤣 https://t.co/M265pKW4MT
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 10, 2024
Rick Scott for Senate Majority Leader! https://t.co/lpT34yHTKk
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 10, 2024
Last February, McConnell declared that he would step down as leader but would remain in the Senate until the end of his 2027 term.
“One of life’s most underappreciated talents is knowing when it’s time to move on to life’s next chapter,” McConnell remarked at the time. Therefore, I’m here today to inform you that this will be my final term as Senate Republican leader.
On November 13, a secret ballot will be used to select a new leader.
Several senators and staffers say that Thune, Cornyn, and their friends have been calling members nonstop to get support before next week’s election to replace Mitch McConnell (Ky.), who is leaving his job as Senate GOP Leader, The Hill reported.
The Senate GOP whip, Thune, has been seen as a small favorite to replace the Kentucky Republican. He is the best at counting votes for the GOP and has also done a great job of raising money and running campaigns.
But not many people are writing Cornyn off. He was the whip before and was a close friend of the outgoing leader. He is also thought to have strong ties with more conservative members of the conference.
“It’s Thune’s to lose, but Cornyn’s going to make it close,” one GOP aide familiar with leadership dynamics told The Hill. “It’s going to be bloody and rough, and money is going to matter.”
A person familiar with Thune’s work says that he was always on the road in October supporting Senate GOP candidates. During the last month, he sat in for all of the candidates in close races except Kari Lake in Arizona.
The source also said that he earned more than $33 million for himself, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), and the party’s other candidates.
Cornyn also had good numbers. As of late September, he had raised $26 million, including almost $12 million for the NRSC, while campaigning and raising money in key swing states like Nevada, Michigan, and Indiana.
It was also said by his staff that he has earned a total of $406 million since becoming a senator in 2002.
But President-elect Trump, who won the White House race by a large margin, is still the most important thing going into next week. Neither Thune nor Cornyn has been a die-hard MAGA supporter, but since the beginning of the year, they have both tried to make things right with him.
Thune has had more work to do on this than Cornyn because he backed Sen. Tim Scott’s (R-S.C.) campaign for president and Trump told Scott that he should face a primary fight in the Mount Rushmore State. None of them came true, and in the end, Thune easily won a fourth term.
Thune, on the other hand, seems eager to get along with the new president. The same person says they met at Mar-a-Lago in March and have talked several times since then, most recently on Wednesday.
