Senate Republican whip says it is "prudent" to talk about the future, not stolen elections

 Senate Republican Whip John Thune said on Wednesday it would be “prudent” for Donald Trump to talk about the future and not continue to say that the 2020 election was stolen, a baseless fraud claim that the former president repeated in the presidential debate Tuesday. 

“As I’ve said before, all elections are about the future not the past. It’s always, obviously, prudent to talk about the future,” he said, adding there are many areas of Vice President Kamala Harris’s record, like inflation and border security, that are ripe topics to be examined.

Asked if Trump took Harris’s bait during the debate, such as when she challenged the size of Trump’s rallies, Thune downplayed the impact the debate will have on voters.  

“I just think the debate isn’t going to change much and she still has to answer for her record,” he said.

Thune said he and most Senate Republicans support Ukraine in in its war with Russia when he was asked about Trump’s refusal to say if Ukraine should win.

“My position is that we want Ukraine to win the war. For sure. I will let him speak for his position but we had 32 out of 49 Republicans who voted to support Ukraine in their efforts to defeat the Russians,” he said.