MAGA influencer Scott Presler has accused John Thune’s staff of denying him entry to a South Dakota Republican event on Thursday, where the Senate Majority Leader and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin were set to speak.
Presler, a conservative political activist, made the accusation in a series of posts on X in which he detailed how he was not let into the event, but his claims were strongly denied by Thune’s staff, who called it a “categorical lie”.
Presler is a prominent campaigner for the SAVE America Act, a key policy of President Donald Trump, that would require proof of citizenship and photo ID to vote but has failed to get enough support in the Senate.
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Thune has been criticized by Trump supporters for its stalled progress, despite the president’s repeated demands for it to pass.
In one post, Presler wrote: “It was Senate Majority Leader Thune’s staff that would not let me into the dinner. Thought I looked mildly handsome. Pass the SAVE America Act!”
Ryan Wrasse, a communications officer for Thune, wrote on X in a response to Presler: “This is a categorical lie to make an embarrassing situation seem better by blaming people who had absolutely nothing to do with this. John Thune’s staff doesn’t run ticketing checks at the South Dakota GOP dinner doors. Give me a break.”
In a separate post, Wrasse wrote that the event was “closed to press and advertised as such.”
In an article published on Friday, June 26, the local news outlet, the South Dakota Searchlight, also said that they had been blocked from attending the event.
The outlet reported that they had completed online registration and received an email granting permission to attend, but that on arrival at the event, staff said they were “having problems with other people who registered as media but weren’t from what the state party considers legitimate outlets.”
Newsweek has contacted Thune’s office via email and the South Dakota Republican party via online contact form outside of regular working hours for comment.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
