MAGA threatens new majority leader after Senate GOP rejects Rick Scott

The MAGA world is breaking down after the Senate GOP rejected Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) as its majority leader.
Trump allies and MAGA mouthpieces were quick to back Scott for Senate majority leader shortly after Donald Trump clinched the White House last week over Vice President Kamala Harris. But on Wednesday, Republican senators bucked MAGA activists and elected Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) to succeed Sen. Mitch McConnell as head of the Senate GOP.
Close Trump allies, including tech billionaire Elon Musk, ex-Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Vivek Ramaswamy and conservative activist Charlie Kirk, endorsed Scott for the position over the weekend. In the wake of Thune being elected, conservative social media users posted their disappointment with the decision.
Conservative podcaster Benny Johnson ripped the Senate Republicans for their decision and issued a warning to Thune after the news broke that he was elected as the new Senate majority leader on Wednesday. Johnson, like many other conservative activists, emphasized that Thune had been critical of Trump in the past.
“We know so many good senators that really don’t like you, and they are very suspicious of you, and we will work with every breath that we have on this program and use every muscle that we possibly can of leverage to remove you if you dare cross the agenda that you did nothing to bring about,” Johnson said in a message to Thune posted on social media platform X.
“You didn’t lift a finger. You sabotaged Trump every time you got the chance… So we’ll remember that, and if you change your ways, fine, we’ll work alongside you. If you dare cross us, then we will use every single lever, lever of power that we have to remove you,” he added.
Kirk also issued similar threats on Wednesday.
“John Thune is Senate Majority Leader. He has a short window to show us he will support President Trump, fill his cabinet, confirm his judges, and pass his agenda. If he does, we will support him. If he doesn’t, we will work to remove him,” he wrote on X.
“Thune is now on the record. If Trump doesn’t have a full cabinet by mid-February we are going to have a problem. Get it done, Senator Thune,” Kirk wrote in a separate tweet.
Trump did not publicly endorse anyone in the leadership race.
Thune, 63, is in his fourth Senate term and has promised to work closely with Trump, despite differences the two have had over the years, and will be a crucial part of the incoming president’s efforts to push through his policy agenda. The two spoke on the phone shortly after Thune was elected, the senator posted on X Wednesday afternoon, adding that “Senate Republicans are excited and ready to get to work” with the incoming president.
Trump later congratulated Thune on his social media platform, Truth Social. “He moves quickly, and will do an outstanding job,” Trump wrote. ”I look forward to working with him.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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