Trump on convention crowd booing Thune: ‘No, no. John is working hard’

President Trump on Wednesday told the crowd at the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) first midterm convention in Dallas not to boo the absent Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), telling them that “John is working hard.”

Trump mentioned Thune’s name after he said Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) “will go down as the greatest Speaker of the House in the history of our country.” He then added, Thune was “here” before asking where he was, prompting boos from the audience.

“No, no. John is working hard. He’s got great opposition. He’s got great opposition from the Democrat –– Schumer and these guys, they’re terrible. Great opposition,” he continued, referring to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). “He’s working very hard. He’s gonna have great success. You watch.”

The president added that Senate Republicans will in general have “great, great success.”

Thune and Trump have been at odds with each other as Thune has dismissed the chances of passing the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America) Act, Trump’s priority legislation — which would require a photo ID when casting a ballot and proof of citizenship in order to register to vote.

Trump pressed the GOP leader to keep the Senate in session earlier this summer to get the bill passed rather than let senators go for recess, to no avail. The president has also called for an end to the filibuster, which Thune has ruled out of consideration without enough votes to do so.

The South Dakota Republican has also expressed his worry over the GOP maintaining their majority in the upper chamber of Congress, telling Keloland News earlier this month that he’s a “realist” and that the Senate is “a competitive environment right now.”

Trump has not endorsed Thune for another term in the Senate and suggested, while selling his administration’s successes, that Republican voters are not happy with current leadership and that they think he isn’t getting the job done. The president told Punchbowl News in an interview last month that he gets along with the senator, but said it was “unfortunate that he doesn’t have the votes.”

“I believe strongly in terminating the filibuster, and by the way, getting SAVE America Act approved immediately, and about 400 other things in every hour of every day,” he told the outlet.

Senate Republicans have rallied to support Thune, with Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), a chief proponent of the SAVE America Act, saying that if he were president, “I would be frustrated if everything I wanted didn’t get done.”

“It’s a hard job, it’s really a hard job,” Scott previously told The Hill.