Republicans secured their largest victory in years with Donald Trump clearly winning the presidency and the party retaking the Senate and possibly the Lower House too. However, the scenario is not completely rosy for the GOP, as there is already infighting for one of the most coveted positions in the next Congress: Senate majority leader.
In this case, the issue revolves around Florida Senator Rick Scott mounting a bid for the position with the support of high-profile MAGA voices. He is running against two front-runners backed by most rank-and-file GOP senators, John Thune of South Dakota and John Cornyn of Texas.
Scott not only got the endorsement of prominent online figures like Tucker Carlson, Charlie Kirk and Elon Musk, but also from a handful of senators including Bill Haggerty and Marco Rubio.
Members of the other camp described a scenario of anger to POLITICO, with its latest edition of the playbook quoting a GOP aide saying the initiative is "pissing off senators whose votes Rick needs." "Senators do not take kindly to having an army of social media trolls attack them," the aide added.
Tucker Carlson and Elon Musk seem to be spearheading the efforts online. The former said on X that "Rick Scott of Florida is the only candidate who agrees with Donald Trump." "Call your senator and demand a public endorsement of Rick Scott." He added there are chances the online campaign will succeed due to the large reach he and others have."
Musk, on his end, held a poll on X during the weekend about the topic. Scott got almost two thirds of the more than 1 million votes in the survey.
Who should be Senate Majority Leader?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 10, 2024
The article casts doubt on the strategy, recalling similar efforts to propel Rep. Jim Jordan to the speakership of the House only to embolden moderates to block him and endorse Rep. Mike Johnson. It also remembers Scott is not known for having a large amount of allies in the Upper House. Him appearing with MAGA firebrand Laura Loomer, who attacked Thune and accused him of conspiring with Democrats, didn't do him any favors either.
Trump, who could decide the race with an endorsement and did back Scott two years ago, has so far declined to weigh in and rejected a recent report about him dismissing Scott's bid, calling it "not serious.". "Anyone who says differently is wrong," a campaign spokesperson told Axios last week.
Scott has shown confidence in his chances even though he got just 10 votes in his last bid for leadership. "I'm going to win. And here's why. I've been talking to my Republican colleagues, Guess what? They want change. They know that Donald Trump has a mandate. They want to be part of that mandate. They want to be treated as equals. They want to be part of a team. They want to have a working relationship with the House," Scott said in an interview with Fox Business last week.
The GOP has already secured control of the Upper House for the next two years, flipping at least three seats to get at least 53 with two more races yet to be called.
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