Mitch McConnell's deputy John Thune says Trump supporters are indulging in 'cancel culture' after ex-president slammed his boss as 'unsmiling political hack'

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Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell's deputy Sen. June Thune is striking out at state parties who have censured or condemned fellow Republicans who voted to convict Donald Trump at his impeachment trial.

Thune, who has worked his way up the leadership ladder and is a key ally to McConnell, warned of 'Cancel Culture' within the state parties and party activists – a stinging dig that Trump himself has used to blast those who would silence him or seek to pressure conservative opinion. 

He has a Capitol office located just steps from where angry rioters breached the Senate chamber, but decided not to vote to convict Trump of incitement of insurrection. 

In his first interview since he voted to acquit Trump, the Senate's No. 2 Republican defended fellow Republicans who sided with Democrats on the 'vote of conscience' and warned against shutting out dissenting voices in the party.

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said House impeachment managers made a 'strong case' against former President Donald Trump in the impeachment trial, and warned activists against imposing 'cancel culture' on Republicans who parted with Trump

'There was a strong case made,' Thune said of the Democrats' impeachment presentation. 'People could come to different conclusions. If we´re going to criticize the media and the left for cancel culture, we can´t be doing that ourselves.' 

His comments come after McConnell accused Trump of 'a disgraceful dereliction of duty' for his role in the Jan. 6th riot. Trump spoke to a crowd of supporters urging them to 'fight' just minutes before a MAGA mob stormed the Capitol.

McConnell wrote in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal that 'There is no question former President Trump bears moral responsibility. His supporters stormed the Capitol because of the unhinged falsehoods he shouted into the world's largest megaphone.

'His behavior during and after the chaos was also unconscionable, from attacking Vice President Mike Pence during the riot to praising the criminals after it ended.'

Thune's pushback comes after a number of state parties went after Republicans who parted with Trump. 

Among those censured was retiring Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina and Ben Sasse of Nebraska. 

Thune's comments come amid a public feud between former President Trump and Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky

Republican Senator from North Carolina Richard Burr, who voted to convict Trump at the impeachment trial, was censured by his own state party

Trump has lashed out and McConnell and Thune as well as senators who criticized his effort to overturn the election results

Trump even tried to talk up a primary challenge to Thune, causing Gov. Krisi Noem to issue a statement denying interest

Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., leaves the chamber as the Senate voted to consider hearing from witnesses in the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, at the Capitol in Washington, Saturday, Feb. 13, 2021

Trump mocked Thune, calling him 'Mitch's boy' two days before Christmas, amid Trump's effort to overturn the election results, then torched him again on January 1, tweeting: 'I hope to see the great Governor of South Dakota @KristiNoem, run against RINO @JohnThune, in the upcoming 2022 Primary. She would do a fantastic job in the U.S. Senate, but if not Kristi, others are already lining up. South Dakota wants strong leadership, NOW!'

Trump, now banned from Twitter, publicly struck from his new home at Mar-a-Lago, back in a blistering statement trashing McConnell.

He called McConnell a 'dour, sullen', 'unsmiling political hack' and accused McConnell of 'destroying' the GOP and urged the party's senators to end his leadership. He also has vowed to get involved in GOP primaries to try to force out people he considers 'RINOs.'

Thune's remarks were his first explaining his vote in Trump's trial and assessing the turbulent GOP politics the former president has left behind. Thune, who is facing reelection next year in deeply conservative South Dakota, is among several establishment Republicans grappling with how to reclaim control of a party dominated by Trump and his most ardent supporters for years.

The senator only rarely criticized Trump while he was in office. But he called the former president's actions after the election 'inexcusable' and accused him of undermining the peaceful transfer of power.

Still, Thune last week sided with most Republican senators and McConnell in voting to acquit anyway. Thune and others argued that Trump could not be impeached because he was already out of office. Thune said after his vote that he was concerned with the idea of 'punishing a private citizen with the sole intent of disqualifying him from holding future office.' Democrats fell 10 votes short of the 67 need to convict.

Since then, Trump has lashed out at McConnell and repeated the baseless claim that he won the election. The comments have inflamed a feud that is likely to play out in GOP primaries between Trump-backed candidates and those supported by the establishment wing.

Thune suggested he would be taking steps to assist candidates 'who don´t go off and talk about conspiracies and that sort of thing.' He praised Rep. Liz Cheney, a Wyoming Republican, who was censured by the Wyoming GOP for voting to impeach Trump, for doing an 'exceptional job on most issues' and said he was ready to jump into primary battles like the one she is sure to face.

'At the grassroots level, there's a lot of people who want to see Trump-like candidates,' he said. 'But I think we're going to be looking for candidates that are electable.'

Thune himself was hit by Trump last year after he said efforts by some GOP members in the U.S. House to reject Electoral College results would 'go down like a shot dog' in the Senate. Trump called Thune a 'RINO,' meaning Republican In Name Only, and 'Mitch´s boy,' in reference to McConnell. The attacks inspired some Trump loyalists in South Dakota to huddle for a primary challenge to the state's senior senator, whose candidacy has gone unchallenged in previous elections.

On Thursday, the senator attempted to downplay those attacks, likening them to 'food fights within the family' that hurt Republicans' goals, He noted there was no evidence to support Trump's claim of voter fraud.

'You´ve got to face the music, and at some point, it´s got to be over and you´ve got to move on,' he said, adding, 'I think it´s just important to tell people the truth. The most important responsibility of any leader is to define reality.'