Thune admitted passing the SAVE Act wouldn’t have fixed GOP midterm woes. Then he said Trump’s Iran war ‘trumped everything else’

John Thune said on Monday that the SAVE Act would not have reversed Republicans’ midterm problems even if the Senate had passed it. The South Dakota Republican, who serves as Senate majority leader, spoke on Fox News’ America’s Newsroom.

Thune said voters are focused on cost-of-living concerns and on President Donald Trump’s war in Iran. He said the war in Iran has “trumped everything else.”

Mediaite points out that the SAVE Act would add new proof-of-citizenship rules for federal elections. Trump has demanded that Senate Republicans pass the bill. Thune has said Republicans do not have the votes to break a filibuster.

Thune said diesel prices and Iran are shaping the midterm map

Thune was asked whether finishing the SAVE Act would have changed the outlook for Republicans before the midterm elections. He argued the Iran conflict overshadowed other issues, a dynamic seen in other GOP post-mortems, such as a former representative blaming Trump for potential midterm losses.

Democrats lead Republicans 52% to 43% in NBC News’ Friday polling average of the race for Congress, a nine-point gap, according to the report. The report said that is Democrats’ largest lead yet in that average.

Thune said, “Right now, the races are – it’s more about affordability issues. 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.”

He also said, “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.”

Thune added, “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.”

The report said MAGA supporters have voiced anger that the bill has not passed. They booed when Trump named Thune at a rally earlier this month.

Trump told the crowd, “No, no. John is working hard. He’s got great opposition. He’s got great opposition from the Democrat[s].” Trump’s defense of Thune came as his own approval ratings have hit new lows, with the GOP facing the prospect of losing the House and Senate.