🔮Rick Scott: Trump’s Lion of the Senate?
Can the Trump camp get an early win in the Senate Majority Leader vote?
Donald Trump will enter office with a 53-seat Senate majority and a Republican House majority of between 219 and 223 seats - although this has already been shaved by four House members selected for administration jobs.
Trump’s larger edge for Republicans in the Senate (he entered office in 2017 with a 52-seat Senate majority) gives him more latitude to withstand defections in confirmation votes and push through his agenda.
A major factor in how Trump works with Congress will be who replaces Mitch McConnell as Republican leader in the Senate. The leadership vote, which takes place via secret ballot, is set for Wednesday, November 13, and has been the subject of much intrigue as Trump supporters have rallied around Florida Senator Rick Scott. Over the weekend, the race narrowed to three options:
Rick Scott (🔮 25%)
The Florida senator is the Trumpworld favorite, having endorsed Trump early in the primaries. Scott has been backed by Elon Musk, RFK Jr, Tucker Carlson, Vivek Ramaswamy, and RNC chair Lara Trump, along with numerous Trump-aligned social media accounts encouraging supporters to flood Senate phone lines for Scott. If Trump allies succeed in installing Scott, it will be a sign that the Trump wing has consolidated power in the Senate and made a break with the McConnell era.
John Thune (🔮 62%)
On Sunday, Benny Johnson posted an internal Republican whip-count (attacked as fake by some) showing South Dakota’s John Thune leading among Republican senators, with Scott in a distant third; this report seems to be what sent Thune’s odds into the lead.
Thune, the second highest ranking Republican in the Senate, is seen as a McConnell ally and earned Trump’s ire for not supporting attempts to overturn the 2020 election. Trump-aligned accounts have been busy circulating old clips highlighting Thune’s disloyalty to Trump.
John Cornyn (🔮 12%)
According to Steve Bannon, John Cornyn is Trumpworld’s second choice behind Scott, mainly because the Texas Senator is up for re-election in 2026, making him more susceptible to primary threats.
Cornyn recently secured the endorsement of Josh Hawley, who is thought to have presidential ambitions in 2028. Cornyn has broken with Trump on several issues including border wall funding, and the 2020 election, and is also the target of oppo clips highlighting his disloyalty to Trump.
Can Trumpworld Get a Win Without Trump?
Online momentum for Scott is at a fever pitch. But Trump himself has not made a formal endorsement, insisting that his only demand for Senate Majority Leader is to accept recess appointments of nominees – something all three candidates have embraced.
Appearing on
’s 2WAY, Trump’s former Press Secretary Sean Spicer dropped hints that Scott’s position may be precarious:According to Spicer, Trump would only endorse Scott if it was clear this would put him over the top to victory, which sounds like a tell that Scott is not close to having enough support.
If no candidate secures a simple majority on the first vote, the lowest vote-getter is dropped from the list on the second ballot, which, if Johnson’s tally can be believed, puts the race between the two old-guard Senators of Thune and Cornyn.
For now, the market is most bullish on Thune, Trumpworld’s least-favorite candidate, indicating that there may still be some daylight between the Trump wing and McConnell-era Senate Republicans.
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