Ashley Brasfield
Senior Politics Reporter
June 17, 2026 4:02 PM ET
Senate Majority Leader John Thune admitted some Senate Republicans hate President Donald Trump too much to support the SAVE America Act, multiple sources familiar with the comments told the Daily Caller.
Thune admitted during a closed-door GOP lunch on Wednesday that some Republican senators oppose President Donald Trump so strongly that they will never vote for the SAVE America Act, regardless of the legislation’s merits, according to several sources familiar with the matter.
The discussion quickly escalated into a heated exchange between Republican Utah Sen. Mike Lee, the bill’s chief Senate sponsor, and several of his GOP colleagues. Republican Texas Sen. John Cornyn and Thune both challenged Lee’s push for the legislation, according to a source familiar with the meeting.
“Yeah, that totally happened,” a source familiar with the matter told the Daily Caller.
Still, the Majority Leader’s office denies the admission. “This is a baseless claim, and it is unequivocally untrue,” a spokesperson for Thune told the Daily Caller.
more
https://dailycaller.com/2026/06/17/john-thune-admits-gop-senators-hate-trump-too-much-too-pass-save-america-act-cornyn-lee-kennedy/
