President Trump said Tuesday he is “disappointed” in Senate Majority Leader John Thune because Republicans have not heeded his repeated calls to terminate the filibuster.
But the president cut the South Dakota Republican some slack and blamed other unnamed GOP senators for their obstinacy.
“I’m disappointed,” Mr. Trump said. “I like John a lot, but, you know, he has a couple of Republicans that are foolish people.”
“A couple of them I like, a couple of them I can’t stand, actually, if you want to know the truth,” he said.
Mr. Thune has said the president has made several personal pleas to him to terminate the filibuster. The leader has repeatedly reminded Mr. Trump privately and publicly that Senate Republicans do not have the necessary 51 votes to do so under the so-called “nuclear option.”
Mr. Trump blames the filibuster for getting in the way of numerous GOP priorities, but his frustration is primarily directed at the party’s stalled election bill, the SAVE America Act.
“We should have voter identification, voter ID,” he said. “We should have proof of citizenship. We should have mail-in voting for the military and people that need it, but not for everybody.”
The president has accused Democrats of cheating in elections, saying “it’s the only way they can win” because of their unpopular border and transgender policies.
“We shouldn’t allow them to cheat,” he said. “And we should terminate the filibuster, because if they get the chance, they’ll do it in the first hour back.”
