Rounds denied Trump’s criticism of saying he lost the election

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SIOUX FALLS, SD (AP) – U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota on Monday that he defended his statement that former President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election, after Trump called his fellow Republican a “jerk” for his comments.

Rounds said he was “disappointed but not surprised” by Trump’s attack.

Since his disappearance, Trump has repeatedly claimed that the 2020 election was stolen from him, even as courts have repeatedly confirmed, audited and counted the results as free and fair.

“This is not new information,” Rounds said in a statement. “If we are honest, there is no evidence of widespread fraud that could change the election results.”

Rounds said in an interview Sunday on ABC News “This Week” that Republicans need to move forward and focus on winning elections, adding that people can “believe and they can have confidence that the elections are fair … and that is in every state we look at. “

Rounds was also asked if it was possible for Congress to pass legislation to block Trump from running again as president on the grounds that he betrayed his oath by supporting the insurgency on Jan. 6. Rounds responded that the courts, not Congress, the appropriate place to answer such questions but said Trump should not be protected from the court system.

While many Republican senators agree with Rounds, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, South Dakotan’s comments are still somewhat unusual in an environment where most GOP politicians have shunned openly criticism of Trump.

The former president’s hold on the party was clear last week, when Republicans withdrew from Washington and refused to join Democrats in commemorating the anniversary of the insurrection on Jan. 6-the worst attack on the Capitol in more than two centuries.

Trump said Monday that Rounds was only speaking because he was easily re-elected in 2020 with Trump’s endorsement-“so now he thinks he has time, and those are the only weak ones, who will go away,” Trump said. . “I will never endorse this jerk again,” he added.

Rounds noted that former Vice President Mike Pence recognized Joe Biden’s success “and acted with integrity.”

“It’s time for the rest of us to do the same,” he said.

Rounds’ comments came days after his Republican Senate colleague, John Thune, announced he would run for re-election after contemplating retirement. Thune, the No. 2 Republicans in the Senate and a leading candidate to replace McConnell, have also reaped criticism from Trump by saying he believes Biden won the presidential election.

Prior to the Jan. 6 uprising in the U.S. Capitol, Thune said any attempt to reverse the legitimate results would “go down like a shot dog” in the Senate.

Thune was right – more than 90 senators voted against two separate objections to the results in the hours after Trump supporters violently entered the Capitol in protest. While both Rounds and Thune voted to prove Biden’s victory, no one voted to impeach Trump in the weeks after.

On Monday, Thune said “welcome to the club” when asked about Rounds ’statement in response to Trump. Echoing McConnell, Thune said Republicans need to focus on the future not the past, and important policy issues like the economy and national security.

“There are just a lot of things we need to talk about to win and get the support of Americans in 2022,” Thune said.

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Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed from Washington.

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