Dana Hess writes for South Dakota Searchlight, an online news organization.

In politics, just like in comedy, timing is everything. Consider this timeline:

• On Saturday, Feb. 24, Former President Donald Trump won the South Carolina Republican primary.
• According to The Hill, that night Trump got a call from South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the second-highest ranking Republican in the U.S. Senate.
• On Sunday, Feb. 25, Thune endorsed Trump.
• On Wednesday, Feb. 28, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced his plans to give up the top job in November, setting off speculation about who would be tapped as his replacement.

The biggest head scratcher in this timeline is Thune’s endorsement of Trump.

The South Dakota senator is something of a stranger to the Trump camp. Back in May of last year, this space was used to praise the political courage of Thune and Sen. Mike Rounds as South Dakota’s senators backed South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott for the Republican presidential nomination. That took courage because Trump is known to hold grudges against those people who dare to show anything less than unwavering loyalty.

At the time, 11 Republican senators had already endorsed Trump. Recently The Hill said that tally has gone up to 30. News stories about Scott’s entry into the race often mentioned his popularity with his fellow senators. However, Thune and Rounds were the only senators to endorse him.

Scott dropped out of the race in November. Now, like a few other Republicans, he’s busy positioning himself as a candidate to serve as Trump’s vice president. His departure from the primary field allowed Thune and Rounds to reload their endorsements.

So far, Rounds has kept his in the chamber. The first senator to endorse a candidate other than Trump, Rounds may still be stinging from Trump’s reaction to Rounds’ remarks after the 2020 election. All Rounds did was tell the truth, stating that Joe Biden had won the election. For his truth telling, Trump labeled him a “jerk.”

Thune hasn’t been a Trump favorite either. Thune, like his boss McConnell, refused to put his political weight behind Trump’s effort to overthrow the 2020 election results. For that, Trump did what he does best: hold a grudge. He called for Thune to face a primary opponent in 2022. Thune bested his primary opponent by more than 50 points, perhaps showing that politicians popular in their home states don’t have that much to fear from Trump’s attempts at king-making.

Thune voted to acquit Trump when he was impeached for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. He reasoned that a vote for acquittal was the right decision because by that time Trump had left office. Thune didn’t let his vote for acquittal get in the way of having a few choice words about Trump. “What former President Trump did to undermine faith in our election system and disrupt the peaceful transfer of power is inexcusable,” Thune said.

Senators trying for the top leadership role in the Senate should consider the chilly relationship between Trump and McConnell.

Trump has often called for McConnell to be removed from his Senate leadership position. McConnell has cut off all communication with Trump since the Jan. 6 insurrection.

As Trump has amassed primary victories, he has also shown a disturbing amount of influence in the U.S. Senate. His disapproval recently sank a bipartisan deal to secure the southern border; a deal that Senate Republicans had called for in the first place. Trump’s newfound Senate influence means that he may have quite a bit to say about who becomes the new leader of Republicans.

As the current second-in-command, Thune would seem like a natural successor to McConnell. It’s easy to see how Thune’s well-timed endorsement cracks open the door for him to be a front runner for the role of minority leader. Or, if things really break Republicans’ way in the election, majority leader.

Unfortunately for Thune, he not only went against the current by backing Scott, he was also a little late in offering his Trump endorsement. Others on the Senate Republican leadership team bent the knee earlier. Republican Conference Chairman Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming was an early Trump supporter and Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, a former Republican whip, endorsed Trump after his victory in the New Hampshire primary. Both would like the job of Senate Republican leader.

Certainly having a South Dakotan as the top Senate Republican would be good for the state. However, high profile political jobs can be dangerous. Those of us with long memories recall that one of the arguments Thune used to unseat Democratic Senate Leader Tom Daschle was that he spent too much time on party politics and not enough time looking out for the folks back home.

As an experienced politician, Thune may have some second thoughts about putting himself in line for a greater Senate leadership role.

Wrangling legislation through the Senate during a Trump administration is not easy task. Just look what it did to Mitch McConnell.

With his endorsement of Trump, Thune has put aside the refreshing display of political courage he showed last May. Instead he has chosen to back the candidate who, if successful, could help install him as his party’s next Senate leader. Somehow the “inexcusable” has turned into the endorsable.