Trump lashes out at 'very stupid' Republicans — but they’re ready to 'punch back'

Liberal and progressive media outlets have been highly critical of the U.S. Senate's GOP majority for being, in their view, overly deferential to President Donald Trump — often arguing that Republican senators confirmed his most unqualified nominees. But in recent weeks, tensions between Senate Republicans have been flaring. And according to Politico's Jordain Carney, frustrated Senate Republicans are losing patience with Trump more and more.

"Donald Trump is about to come face to face with one of his frequent punching bags: Senate Republicans," Carney reports. "They might just be in a mood to punch back. The president was invited to GOP senators' Wednesday lunch to push for his No. 1 priority, the GOP election bill known as the SAVE America Act. But several outgoing Republicans who have clashed with Trump said Monday they will be there to deliver a reality check: The bill isn't passing, and it's time to move on."

One Republican senator who is speaking out is outgoing Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who recently lost a GOP primary to far-right Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton — who Trump endorsed.

Cornyn told reporters, "I'm going to be there front and center. It will be important if it actually is a constructive exchange of different opinions, and hopefully we can all get on the same page. Right now, we're not in a great place."

Cornyn said of the SAVE America Act, "I've been around here long enough and been through enough battles and counted enough votes to know that it doesn’t just magically occur, no matter how much you wish it would happen."

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) is making it clear that he has no desire to abolish the filibuster — no matter how much Trump berates his caucus.

In a Truth Social post, Trump wrote, "Anybody who doesn't want to Terminate the Filibuster is a FOOL, a very stupid one, at that!"

Thune told Politico, "It's not a question of what I want to do or don't want to do. It does always come back to the math. And.… there just aren’t the votes to do it."

Other frustrated Senate Republicans who are speaking out include North Carolina's Thom Tillis and Louisiana's Bill Cassidy — who, like Cornyn, lost to a Trump-supported primary challenger.

Cassidy said of the SAVE America Act, "I'm a co-sponsor, but it doesn’t have the votes, and so it’s time to talk about something else."

Tillis told Politico that he would like to have a productive relationship with Trump but stressed that the president isn't going to get everything he wants legislatively.

"So why don't we spend more time being productive about how we communicate, when we communicate, and get some of these very pressing issues done?" the North Carolina conservative commented.

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