Senate Republican leaders are throwing cold water on President Trump's demands for election integrity legislation, with Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) disgracefully suggesting that patriotic Americans pushing for the SAVE Act are nothing more than a "paid influencer ecosystem."
Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Thune revealed his true colors by dismissing the overwhelming grassroots pressure for election security measures as some kind of artificial online campaign. This is exactly the kind of establishment thinking that got us into this mess in the first place.
The SAVE Act, which would require proof of citizenship for voter registration, enjoys massive support among everyday Americans who are sick and tired of watching our elections get compromised by non-citizens and fraudulent voting. But apparently, that doesn't matter to the swamp creatures in the Senate GOP leadership.
The Establishment Shows Its True Face
Thune's comments expose the dirty little secret that many Republicans hoped we wouldn't notice: even with Trump back in the White House and GOP control of Congress, the establishment is still more interested in protecting their cozy relationships than fighting for election integrity.
"Much of the current pressure campaign surrounding the legislation is being driven online rather than inside," Thune told reporters, as if the voices of millions of Americans don't count unless they're filtered through D.C. lobbyists.
This is the same kind of dismissive attitude we saw for years from RINOs who preferred losing gracefully to actually fighting for conservative principles. They'd rather dismiss legitimate concerns about election security as "conspiracy theories" or "paid influence campaigns" than do the hard work of securing our democracy.
Patriots Won't Be Silenced
What Thune and his establishment allies don't understand is that the American people aren't going to be fooled by their excuses anymore. We elected Trump and gave Republicans control precisely to get things like the SAVE Act passed, not to watch them make excuses about why it's too complicated.
The question patriotic Americans need to ask is simple: If our own Senate Republican leadership won't fight for election integrity when we have the power to do it, what exactly are we paying them for?