John Thune

speaker

66 appearances 2 recordings 1 series first heard Jun 2026 last heard 10 Jul

John Thune’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

Trend

recordings per month · last 12 months

Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 2 in all, peaking in Jul 2026 with 1.

Appearances

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The NPR Politics Podcast · Where is Mitch McConnell? · 10 Jul 2026 podcast

this fall. matched

And it's also kind of become so closely watched because it's a window into some of the bigger conversations that Democrats are grappling with right now about the future of the party, not only headed into this election, but beyond. matched

So yeah, as you mentioned, not only is this a key swing state, it is key because President Donald Trump won there in 2024. matched

And so Democrats are defending this seat, and it's seen as absolutely critical for their goal of retaking the Senate this year. matched

Now, briefly of the land, there were three candidates in this race. matched

Abdul El-Sayed, he's a public health official. matched

He's running to the left end of the spectrum, has been endorsed by Senator Bernie Sanders. matched

And then there's Congresswoman Haley Stevens. matched

She's running more as a centrist, has the backing of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. matched

And then there was this third kind of middle candidate trying to be the Goldilocks of this race, State Senator Mallory McMorrow. matched

And the news this week is that she dropped out of that race on Sunday, making this from a three-way kind of chaotic race into a head-to-head matchup with just a couple of weeks left to go. matched

No, it doesn't, at least in terms of the prospects of the Save America Act being passed. matched

What it does change is that it gives Democrats a talking point headed into this midterm election where they can say that President Trump and Republicans are standing in the way of efforts to make life more affordable. matched

No problem. matched

The NPR Politics Podcast · What's Trump's beef with Senate Republicans? · 22 Jun 2026 podcast

It's a function of math.

And obviously the president wants things done.

And we have to go through regular order.

It's a 60 vote threshold in the Senate.

And as I said, there aren't anywhere close to the requisite number of votes to change that.

It's just not going to happen.

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