WASHINGTON _ Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., says he will likely still support Donald Trump for president despite calling on him to step aside as the GOP nominee.
"I intend to support the nominee of our party and if anything should change then I'll let you know, but he's got a lot of work to do I think if he's going to have any hope of winning this election," Thune told Keloland Television on Tuesday.
The Rapid City Journal also reported that Thune would likely still support Trump.
Thune, who chairs the GOP conference, was the highest ranking Senate Republican to call on Trump to step aside as the nominee Saturday. A slew of Republicans revoked their support for the nominee after a 2005 video showed Trump using lewd and graphic language to describe sexual advances towards women.
"Donald Trump should withdraw and Mike Pence should be our nominee effective immediately," Thune tweeted from his official Senate Twitter account Saturday afternoon.
A Thune aide said the South Dakota Republican still stands by his Saturday tweet.
"The video that came out on Friday was to me out of all the statements made, that have come out during the campaign, was more offensive than anything that I had seen," Thune said on Tuesday.
