Political heavyweights partake in pressure campaign for GOP Senate leader

Although most U.S. senators are tight lipped ahead of the vote for Republican leader, many influential figures online are starting to put their thumb on the scale.

Republican Sens. John Thune of South Dakota, John Cornyn of Texas, and Rick Scott of Florida are going head-to-head in the race to replace Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday. As of now, only nine senators have made public endorsements.

Despite this uptick in support for Scott, President-elect Donald Trump has not yet endorsed any candidate, and it is unclear if he plans to.

Thune has secured the backing of Republican Sens. Steve Daines of Montana, Mike Rounds of South Dakota, and Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma. Cornyn has so far gained one endorsement, from Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri.

Scott has the largest public backing, with Republican Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Marco Rubio from Florida, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama.

Unlike his competitors, big players outside of D.C. have also come to bat for Scott.

Over the weekend, Scott racked up endorsements from politicos and media personalities like Tucker Carlson, Elon Musk, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Vivek Ramaswamay, and Charlie Kirk.

“What the hell is going on in the US Senate?” Carlson asked in a post on X. “Hours after Donald Trump wins the most conclusive mandate in 40 years, Mitch McConnell engineers a coup against his agenda by calling early leadership elections in the senate. Two of the three candidates hate Trump and what he ran on.”

“One of them, John Cornyn, is an angry liberal whose politics are indistinguishable from Liz Cheney’s,” Carlson continued. “The election is Wednesday, it’s by secret ballot, and it will determine whether or not the new administration succeeds. Rick Scott of Florida is the only candidate who agrees with Donald Trump. Call your senator and demand a public endorsement of Rick Scott. Don’t let McConnell get away with it again.”

Despite this uptick in support for Scott, President-elect Donald Trump has not yet endorsed any candidate, and it is unclear if he plans to. At the same time, Trump has put forth a standard he expects the senators to follow, should they be elected leader.

On Sunday, Trump declared that any Republican leader must support recess appointments, which would allow the president to appoint an individual to a federal office without a Senate confirmation. This would greatly reduce the glacial pace of Senate confirmations and strengthen Trump’s ability to staff federal offices with candidates of his choosing.

That being said, Republicans are fairly insulated from external pressures throughout this process. For one thing, on Tuesday, Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah is set to hold a forum behind closed doors where the three candidates can privately make their pitches to their conference. The morning after, the Republican conference will vote for the GOP leader with secret ballots.

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