GUY BENSON SHOW: Sen. Maj. Leader John Thune Talks Gov’t Shutdown, FBI Senate Spying Scandal, Oct. 7 Anniversary

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) joined The Guy Benson Show today on the second anniversary of the October 7th massacre in Israel, reflecting on the enduring lessons from that day and the importance of unwavering U.S. support for Israel and why terrorist groups cannot remain in power. Thune also reacted to the stunning revelation that the FBI has been spying on and tracking GOP senators, calling it a dangerous overreach that demands immediate congressional oversight and accountability. Thune also weighed in on the appalling scandal out of Virginia involving Democratic AG candidate Jay Jones, who reportedly sent text messages wishing death upon the state’s Speaker of the House. Finally, Thune discussed the ongoing Schumer Shutdown, arguing that Democrats are squarely to blame for refusing to pass a clean continuing resolution to keep the government open. Listen to the full interview below!

Listen to the full interview below:

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Read the full (automated) transcript below:

GUY BENSON: Joining us now is Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican of South Dakota. Mr. Leader, welcome back to the show.

SEN. MAJ. LEADER THUNE: Thanks, Guy. Great to be with you.

GUY BENSON: Today is the second anniversary of October 7th and those terrorist attacks. Some of your reflections on that.

SEN. MAJ. LEADER THUNE: You know, it was just an incredibly sad day. I mean, I just didn’t, you know, actually we went, we traveled there not long after that. There were a group of about ten of us. And even then it was so raw and so hard because you had so many families that were impacted and you know all the lives lost and the hostages which continue to. You know, this continues to be an issue and, you know, we just got to make sure, Guy, that whatever happens in that part of the world, that these terrorist organizations are completely obliterated. You can’t do business with them. They are what they are and October 7th is an incredibly powerful reminder and a tragic reminder of that. Thank you very much.

GUY BENSON: Here at home, reporting out today suggests that Jack Smith’s Operation Arctic Frost investigation went after eight of your colleagues’ communications. Eight Republican U.S. Senators apparently had at least some of their communications monitored by federal agents. This was during the Biden administration. What do we know about this? That seems on its face, at least, to be pretty shocking.

SEN. MAJ. LEADER THUNE: It really does, and I think we’re finding out more about it, but that that revelation in and of itself ought to send chills up every American’s spine, because that is an egregious violation of American liberty, privacy, and I just think that we have to… Do everything necessary to get to the bottom of it and to hold people accountable. There’s just no two ways around it. That was an incredibly, as I said, you look at historically, you try and put this into perspective, into context, you don’t find many times in American history where something like that’s been done, if ever. And we can’t let this go, we have to make sure that there is accountability.

GUY BENSON: Does that include congressional oversight hearings that sort of thing or is this something that you would leave to the current doj what do you think

SEN. MAJ. LEADER THUNE: Well, I think it probably starts the DOJ, but I think Congress needs to be involved. There were, you know, eight United States senators who were among those for whom they were snooping and or on whom they were snoop and I think that the Senate Judiciary Committee obviously is the sort of the forefront of that, the tip of the spear, if you will. But yeah, I there ought to be oversight of any relevant committee of the Congress that has any sort of jurisdiction over the agency or the way in which it was done. I think it was probably some Commerce Committee jurisdiction there because of the way that they used telecom devices and, you know, including securing from… Verizon, for example, these records, those are all things that just violate so many laws and I think there needs to be the necessary oversight to include not just the Justice Department but the Congress as well.

GUY BENSON: We’re just a few weeks removed from the assassination of Charlie Kirk. We’ve seen numerous examples of left-wing violence in this country since then. And just in the last few days, we have learned that the attorney general nominee for Democrats in Virginia sent text messages fantasizing about the violent murder of the then Republican speaker of the House and his children and doubled down on those comments that were absolutely vile. It appears that the National and State Democratic Party have. Stood by this man, Jay Jones. He hasn’t lost any endorsements. You’re an elected Republican official. You’ve seen the climate that we’re in. How do you react when you see things like this being said by someone who wants to be just across the river, the top law enforcement official in the state?

SEN. MAJ. LEADER THUNE: Yeah, I’m blown away, and I think most Americans are too when they hear this story, and it’s still getting out there, but the fact that the Democrats, the statewide elected officials in Virginia have not condemned it and asked him to step aside is very revealing about the state of the Democrat party today. That is a, you know, again, these are things that if it were Republican, and frankly, where’s the media asking all the hard questions about this like they would if it were a Republican, they’d be demanding that heads roll after something like that happened. And it’s really pretty shocking that there hasn’t been more of a response from the elected officials in the state of Virginia. I don’t know how you can turn a It was pretty gripping, you know, when you see somebody that had that kind of state of mind looking, seeking a position, particularly one that’s going to be in charge of enforcing justice for the entire state. It’s either you can’t, there is no explanation for why these people aren’t coming forward and asking for his resignation.

GUY BENSON: No good explanation, at least. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, our guest on the Guy Benson show, day seven of the Schumer shutdown, this government shutdown. You’ve seen all the excuses. You’ve see Democrats saying, well, we have these demands, but also the Republicans are the ones shutting down the government. It’s Trump’s fault. It’s a lie that we want healthcare for illegal immigrants. People can’t afford healthcare, and that’s also Republicans’ fault. I mean, it’s all this incoherent messaging out there. From your perspective, do you think it’s beneficial for Senate Republicans to hold maybe votes every single day on the clean funding bill that Democrats have supported 13 previous times at this level, just saying, yeah, we’re going to vote every day to reopen the government because they’re wanting both credit with their base for shutting down the government while telling the rest of the country that it’s a Republican shutdown.

SEN. MAJ. LEADER THUNE: Yeah, I mean, their messaging is convoluted, to say the least. But the one thing I think that’s clear about it is they are responding to the pressure on their far left base, all the left-wing special interest groups, the MoveOn.orgs of the world. It’s been reported that Schumer’s been coordinating the strategy with them. And what they want nothing more is just absolutely a fight with President Trump. As you pointed out, 13 times when the Democrats have majority in the Senate and President Biden was in the White House, this is a fairly routine thing. You pass these continuing resolutions to fund the government for a short amount of time. Well, they demand

GUY BENSON: Well, they demanded it, right? This was their position much of the time.

SEN. MAJ. LEADER THUNE: Totally, totally. And now they, as you said, not only are they voting against a clean, nonpartisan, you know, CR, continuing resolution that has no policy writers, no, you know partisan priorities for Republicans, it’s simply a funding resolution. And in lieu of that, they have offered up this gargantuan piece of, you’ll counter proposal, if you will, that has, you know, one and a half trillion dollars in new spending. As you point out, healthcare, free healthcare for non-citizens. It is, it’s just… It’s hard to figure out where they are. They’re in search of identity, they don’t really have a leader, and as a consequence it’s the tail wagging the dog. It’s all these outside left-wing groups and personalities in the state of New York who seem to be influencing the behavior of people who ought to know better. And so I’m hoping eventually that the adults will come back and we’ll be able to keep the government funded and avoid all the adverse consequences that come with a shutdown. But, at least at the moment, they seem really dug in. But it is. It is purely and simply their absolute hatred for the president and just desire to fight him on everything that he’s trying to get done, even if it includes taking a hostage like the federal government.

GUY BENSON: 30 seconds, do you think this gets resolved in the fever breaks by Halloween or maybe not?

SEN. MAJ. LEADER THUNE: I don’t know. We’ll see. I hope it does soon. You know, people start losing, you know, don’t get paid here in this next week, especially the troops, and I hope that gets their attention. We will see.

GUY BENSON: That’s U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Republican of South Dakota, our guest here on the Guy Benson show, a lot going on and he has the facts on his side so it’s pretty easy to message when you’ve got the facts compared to whatever the mess the Democrats are selling out there. Mr. Leader, thanks so much for your time today.

SEN. MAJ. LEADER THUNE: Thanks guy, it was good to be with you.