Thune
2020 presidential election results
In December 2020, Thune said he opposed any further efforts to challenge the 2020 presidential election results. He argued that such efforts would "go down like a shot dog" in the Senate.[111][112] Then-President Donald Trump, who contended that the election results were illegitimate and that he had defeated Democratic nominee Joe Biden, responded by attacking Thune on Twitter[113] and publicly calling on South Dakota governor Kristi Noem to challenge him in a 2022 U.S. Senate primary[114] (she declined). Thune directly denounced Trump for attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election and his role in the January 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol. He called his involvement and that of the rioters "inexcusable".[115] Thune voted to certify the 2020 presidential election results.[116]