How MAGA is John Thune? What the voting record shows

South Dakota Sen. John Thune — and not Sen. Rick Scott, the preferred choice of some members of the Make America Great Again (MAGA) caucus — will be the next Senate majority leader following a vote by Senate Republicans on Wednesday.

Thune, who served as minority leader, has previously criticized President-elect Donald Trump but overwhelmingly supported his policies.

This is how Thune voted under the last two governments.

Thune’s voting record during Trump’s first term

During President-elect Donald Trump’s first term, which began in 2017, Thune voted largely in line with Trump’s positions.

In the 115th Congress from 2017 to 2019, Thune joined Trump’s stance just over 95 percent of the time, according to 538, breaking tariffs, sanctions and immigration, among other things.

In the following session from 2019 to 2021, the South Dakota senator supported Trump’s positions 88 percent of the time. He broke with Trump over disaster aid to Puerto Rico, federal funding and the National Defense Authorization Act, among other issues.

His voting record puts him in the top half of Republican senators who support Trump’s agenda. He has promised to support Trump’s campaign promises to fight immigration, increase deportations, implement economic reforms and increase domestic energy production.

A month before Trump was elected president in October 2016, he called on the then-presidential candidate to withdraw from the race and urged that “Mike Pence should be our nominee, effective immediately.” Pence served as vice president during Trump’s first presidency.

The senator previously described Trump’s actions “to undermine confidence in our electoral system and disrupt the peaceful transfer of power” as “inexcusable,” referring to the 2020 election and the subsequent riots at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Trump refused to accept his defeat in 2020 and repeatedly claimed, without substantial evidence, that the election was stolen.

On January 1, 2021, Trump called Thune a “RINO,” Republican in name only, and called on South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem to run against him in the 2022 primary.

Thune’s voting record under President Joe Biden

Thune was one of the Republican senators who acknowledged Biden’s victory in 2020, telling reporters in the weeks afterward: “At some point you have to face the music. And I think if the Electoral College has settled the matter today, it’s time for everyone to move on.”

Since Biden took office, Thune has voted for Biden 35 percent of the time, according to 538. That puts him in the top half of Republican senators who voted for some of Biden’s policy priorities.