Ashley Brasfield writes for the Daily Caller about a surprising reason why the SAVE America Act has stalled in Congress.
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.
The confrontation was first reported by Punchbowl News reporter Andrew Desiderio, who wrote in a Wednesday X post, “GOP senators went after Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) during the closed-door lunch meeting today over his push for the SAVE America Act, in what one source described as a ‘pile-on.’ Sens. Cornyn & Kennedy challenged Lee about his strategy and complained that Trump is being led to believe it’s possible for the Senate to pass it, leading to Republicans attacking each other & Trump undermining his own agenda.”
Lee, who sponsored the SAVE America Act, has been one of the legislation’s most vocal advocates. The Utah senator appeared on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle on Tuesday, where former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany asked whether there was a path forward for the election integrity bill.
“Yes, there is, Kayleigh, and I respectfully but very strongly disagree with my colleague from South Dakota on that,” Lee replied.
