Not Taking No For An Answer, Donald Trump Pushes Kristi Noem To Primary John Thune

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noemi has already given President Donald Trump a firm answer regarding his desire for her to challenge Senator John Thune in a primary in 2022. Still, being told “no” isn’t stopping Trump. He’s still pushing, urging, and cajoling Noem to participate in political activity she’s clearly not interested in.

Senator John Thune (R-SD) has been among the Republicans who have spoken out to say that Trump’s efforts to use the legislature to overturn the election, saying, according to Fox News, that the plan would never make it through the Senate — in fact, that it would “go down like a shot dog.” Trump responded, calling Thune “Mitch[ McConnell]’s boy,” and a RINO. He began to call for the Senator, who was first elected in 2004, to face a primary challenge in his re-election.

Governor Noem responded unequivocally, saying she would not participate in a challenge to Thune, who she considers a friend.

.@johnthune is a friend of mine, and I will not be challenging him. I’m honored to be Governor of South Dakota and will ask the people to give me an opportunity to continue serving them as Governor in 2022.

— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) December 23, 2020

This was all over a week ago — and Trump still hasn’t accepted that she told him “no.”

Instead, he’s tweeting again to pressure the governor to issue a primary challenge, warning that if she doesn’t, “others are already lining up.”

I hope to see the great Governor of South Dakota @KristiNoem, run against RINO @SenJohnThune, 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!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 1, 2021

CBS correspondent David Begnaud says that when asked about the tweet, Senator Thune laughed it off, saying, “Finally, an attack tweet!” and dismissing it all as “the way [Trump] communicates.” Noem has not addressed the president’s continued push for her to run against Thune in 2022, after her refusal in mid-December.

Though many Republicans in the House of Representatives have said they’ll object to the electoral vote certification on January 6, almost no Senators have moved in that direction, and Mitch McConnell has reportedly asked them to stay out of it while the Georgia runoffs continue.