Top Senate Republican Admits SAVE Act Wouldn’t Fix GOP’s Midterm Woes: Iran ...

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) acknowledged that passing the SAVE Act would have done little to turn around Republicans’ midterm woes, arguing that President Donald Trump’s war in Iran has “trumped everything else” on voters’ minds. The SAVE Act, which would impose new proof-of-citizenship requirements for federal elections, has become a source of tension between Thune and Trump, who has repeatedly demanded Senate Republicans pass it. The majority leader, though, has maintained that Republicans lack the votes to overcome the filibuster. Thune joined Fox News’ America’s Newsroom on Monday, where he was asked whether getting the SAVE Act across the finish line would have made a difference for Republicans heading into the midterm elections. Democrats have opened their largest lead yet in NBC News’ Friday polling average of the race for Congress, holding a nine-point advantage over Republicans — 52% to 43%. “Right now, the races are — it’s more about affordability issues,” the majority leader admitted. “It’s the price of diesel in places like Iowa and Kansas and Nebraska and the Midwest, Minnesota. So, I think that’s the issue, and what’s happening in Iran has sort of trumped everything else that’s going on.” “It would’ve been great to pass the SAVE America Act, but it’s a great issue for our candidates to run on because every Democrat block voted against it,” he continued. “We’ve had it up on the floor now six different times in different variations, and every single Democrat, every single time on six occasions, has voted against it.” Notably, Thune didn’t just take heat from the president over the bill’s failure thus far. MAGA supporters have been outspoken in their frustration as well, even booing at Trump’s mention of the majority leader’s name during a rally earlier this month. “No, no,” the president corrected the crowd. “John is working hard. He’s got great opposition. He’s got great opposition from the Democrat[s].” Watch above on Fox News.The post Top Senate Republican Admits SAVE Act Wouldn’t Fix GOP’s Midterm Woes: Iran Has ‘Trumped Everything Else’ first appeared on Mediaite. [TheTopNews] Read More.