Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), who will become minority leader in January 2027 when Democrats take control of Congress, recently made an appearance on Fox News where he was interviewed by anchor Bret Baier. During that interview, Thune was asked if he believed the Democrats would gut the filibuster once they take over Congress. His answer is angering conservatives on social media.
Thune started off his response by stating that since President Donald Trump is still in the Oval Office, he will make use of his veto power. He noted that he was not sure that Democrats would be able to whip up the votes to overcome the veto once it was used. “Now, because they don’t have the White House, the president’s going to veto whatever they do,” he told Baier.
“Would they have the votes to do it? Well, I don’t know that they would or not. I’ve had conversations with Democrats who have said we’ve learned our lesson. We’re not going there. But that I would say, Brett, that isn’t the argument I would make,” Thune continued. The South Dakota Republican then said that he trusts Democrats would not try to gut the filibuster.
“Republican senators who are opposed to nuking the filibuster will argue that at some point the Democrats may try and steal the car, but we’re not going to hand them the keys, and that we will own all the stuff they will do with it if we if we trigger it first. Let’s talk about the future. The president posted that it’s very important for the U.S. Senate to confirm all of our pending ones,” he concluded.
A video clip of the interview shared on X garnered significant attention from Republicans who shared their frustration over Thune’s answer. “Oh dear – it seems to me he is a male AOC,” one user wrote in the comment section. “It is hard to think someone is this gullible. They openly say they plan to do away with the constitution. Why would the filibuster be anything to them?” someone else wrote.
“This guy is such a moron. They want to get rid of the electoral college, pack the Supreme Court, get rid of capitalism and he thinks they won’t get rid of the filibuster … what an idiot,” another user said. Another user held nothing back in her assessment of Thune, referring to the South Dakota Republican as a “weak idiot” in her comment.
“Every single person in the country knows the democrat Marxist Islamo fascist party is going to gut the filibuster as soon as they have a democrat president. They Already Tried It You Stupid A–hole. Weren’t you in the Senate then?” someone else stated. “Taking a democrat at their word! What a cop out. When the socialist do it he can cry ‘but they promised!'” someone said.
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“John Thune is the main fool on a ship of fools. He may believe Democrats, but they will gut the filibuster. The Secret Vote that made John Thune the GOP Senate Minority Leader tarnishes EVERY Senator…who did not walk out of the vote today. They will be known by their deeds,” one user went on to say in her comment on the post.
🚨 THUNE TRUSTS THE DEMOCRATS: Asked if Democrats will gut the filibuster once they take over, John Thune said this:
"I've had conversations with Democrats that say we are not going there."
He wouldn't use the power when Republicans had it.
Now he's counting on Democrats to… pic.twitter.com/dIXlPXqyYB— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) November 10, 2026
Featured Image: screenshot from embedded video