President-elect Donald Trump should give GOP senators room to decide about the race to pick outgoing Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell's successor, according to Senate Republican Whip John Thune, one of the three lawmakers in contention for the role.
In recent days, the South Dakota Republican argued that it would be in Trump's "best interests" to remain neutral in the race, The Hill reported Friday.
McConnell's successor will be picked during a secret ballot vote Nov. 13.
Thune, unlike Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Rick Scott of Florida, the other two contenders to replace McConnell, has had some serious issues with Trump.
These include opposing the effort to object to the certification of electoral votes for Joe Biden after the 2020 election, leading to Trump calling for him to be primaried in 2022.
But Thune has also pledged to work with Trump to pass his 2025 and 2026 legislative agenda and said he has been talking with the president-elect.
"Obviously, if he wants to, he could exert a considerable amount of influence on that but, honestly, I think my preference would be, and I think it's probably in his best interest, to stay out of [the race,]" Thune told CNBC's Joe Kernen this week. "These Senate secret-ballot elections are probably best left to the senators, and he's got to work with all of us when it's all said and done."
Thune's allies are backing his argument, including Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., who told CNN that he speaks with Trump about the upcoming leadership race almost every time he sees him and has advised him to stay out of it.
Thune's comments are stirring up Senate insiders, coming just days after Trump won his election and helped in the down-ballot races that allowed the GOP to regain control of the Senate.
Allies for Cornyn and Scott are saying that Thune's calls for Trump to stay out of the race for the Senate leadership role reflect his fears that Trump will endorse one of the rival candidates.
"He's terrified," an unnamed Senate Republican aide told The Hill. "He knows that Trump won't endorse him. If he knows that, then Trump getting involved hurts him."
Scott, widely seen as a Trump ally, represents Florida, the president-elect's adopted state, and presented Trump with a "Champion of Freedom" award at his Mar-a-Lago estate in April of 2021.
Scott was also the first senator to travel to New York City to attend Trump's trial on charges of falsifying business records.
Further, Scott has connections with Susie Wiles, Trump's campaign manager and his newly named White House chief of staff. Wiles ran Scott's first campaign for governor of Florida.
Cornyn, meanwhile, was the Senate GOP whip during Trump's first two years in the White House, and his allies say he has a closer relationship with Trump than Thune.
Cornyn and Trump spent time together recently during a rally in Reno, Nevada, and at a meeting in Austin, Texas.
A source close Cornyn said he was a guest at fundraisers for Trump's campaign in Laredo, San Antonio, and Houston in August, which raised "well into the seven figures."