When second grader Katie Jensen asked U.S. Senator John Thune if he was going to run for President, she had no idea what kind of buzz it would cause.
"I was so surprised. I didn't know that everyone would think about that," Jensen said.
Thune was taking questions about what he liked most about his job and daily life in Washington while visiting a second grade classroom on Thursday. Katie, whose mother happens to work for KELO-TV, asked a question that took the Senator back a bit.
"Do I plan on running for president?" Thune asked.
"Were you prompted Katie?" asked a man to the side.
"I don't. I enjoy the job I have. And being the President is a very, very hard job. [It's] very challenging to run for President too. You have to go to, you know, I just have to come to see all of you here in one state. When you run for President, you have to go to all 50 states. So, how about that? That'd be a little hard, wouldn't it," Thune said.
Since the original story aired with the Senator's response, several national news organizations have picked it up. That includes national networks including CBS, CNN and USA Today.
You'll also find political sites like "The Hill" quoting Thune saying he's not running for president in 2016.
The Senator had been considered a GOP candidate option for the 2012 race, but decided not to go through with it.
"We googled, 'Thune President' and it popped up. And it was fun to see. The kids were a little disappointed that he wasn't running for President because they thought well that'd be cool. Then, we would have a President in our room," teacher Kyle Wigg said.
Wigg says all of this attention has been a great thing for his classroom.
"They're far more enthusiastic. You can see it a day after, for sure," Wigg said.
And even though the Senator jokingly asked Katie if she had been prompted to ask such a hard-hitting question, the little journalist says she wanted to know the answer for herself.
"A teacher actually told me about that question. And actually after she told me, then I'm like, I actually want to know that answer. So, that's the first question I would ever ask," Jensen said.
Wigg says he hopes the biggest thing people take away from all this, is that kids are learning about government in school.
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