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Former Fox News host and Trump ally Tucker Carlson claimed Senate Republicans are staging “a coup” against Donald Trump as three Senators vie to replace Mitch McConnell.
Republicans reclaimed control of the Senate on Tuesday night, leaving the door open for someone to replace McConnell, the chamber’s longest-serving party leader, who plans to step down at year’s end.
At least three Republicans are vying for the top spot — John Cornyn of Texas, Rick Scott of Florida, and John Thune of South Dakota who serves as the Senate minority whip — NBC News reported, and Carlson took issue with two of them.
“What the hell is going on in the US Senate?” Carlson posted on X on Saturday afternoon. After Trump won, “Mitch McConnell engineers a coup against his agenda by calling early leadership elections in the Senate. Two of the three candidates hate Trump and what he ran on.”
The former Fox host took particular issue with Cornyn, whom he summarized as “an angry liberal whose politics are indistinguishable from Liz Cheney’s.” Cheney is a former Republican Congresswoman from Wyoming turned Trump critic; she campaigned for Kamala Harris. A Punchbowl News reporter described this comparison as “completely off base.”
The election will take place on Wednesday, November 13. “It will determine whether or not the new administration succeeds,” Carlson wrote. “Rick Scott of Florida is the only candidate who agrees with Donald Trump. Call your senator and demand a public endorsement of Rick Scott. Don’t let McConnell get away with it again.”
Earlier on Saturday, Scott outlined that he was running for the leadership position to “upend the status quo & make sure President Trump’s agenda gets done.”
Senators Ron Johnson, Rand Paul and Bill Hagerty also announced Saturday that they would back the Florida Senator in the race.
Back in February, after McConnell announced he would be stepping down at the end of the year, Donald Trump Jr also labeled Thune and Cornyn as “RINOs,” or Republicans in name only.
The president-elect’s son wrote: “Both of them also voted to send billions more to Ukraine. MAGA must do everything in our power to stop either of these two RINOs from ever becoming Senate Leader!”
Trump also previously slammed Cornyn after he successfully negotiated bipartisan gun safety legislation, claiming the Texas Senator facilitated “the first step in the movement to TAKE YOUR GUNS AWAY.”
On Friday, the National Association for Gun Rights also issued a statement against Cornyn: “The arch traitor John Cornyn is being floated as the next Senate Majority Leader. This absolutely cannot be allowed to happen.”
“All of the momentum we have gained for gun rights could hit a wall if the man who spearheaded the largest gun control bill in decades is in charge,” the group said.
Although he faced a barrage of criticism from his own party for backing this bill, he stood by his work, telling the Texas Tribune in 2022: “This was fundamentally important to the country at a time when things are so polarized and people are so intolerant of others that have different points of view.”
Missouri Senator Josh Hawley backed Cornyn, telling Fox News in a statement: “I know he will work closely and effectively with President Trump to deliver on the promise of our new majority. I’m delighted to give him my support.”
Heritage Action, the sister organization of the Heritage Foundation which is responsible for Project 2025, provided scorecards for Senators ranked by how conservative they’ve voted. Senator Scott scored 92 per cent, compared to Senator Thune with 37 per cent and Senator Thune with 35 per cent.
Meanwhile, the South Dakota Senator told CNBC on Thursday that while he understood that Trump could “exert a considerable amount of influence” on the Senate leadership race, “my preference would be, and I think it’s probably in his best interest, to stay out of that.” He continued: “These Senate secret ballot elections are probably best left to senators, and he’s got to work with all of us when it’s all said and done.”
Thune received the support of Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin, according to Punchbowl News.
Trump has yet to publicly endorse any of the three contenders.
While sources told Axios that Trump privately brushed off Scott’s bid as “not serious,” a Trump spokesperson refuted that claim, telling the outlet that the former president “hasn’t weighed in on the leadership race and anyone who says differently is wrong.”
