PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota has been telling people for the last year that the 2020 election was fair, but this week he did something few other Republicans have dared — tell a national audience that.
Now he wishes more Republicans would join him.
Rounds, who is in his second Senate term, has been telling local newspapers, radio shows and Rotary clubs in South Dakota that he checked out the allegations of election fraud made by former President Donald Trump and, while there were some “irregularities,” they all came up empty of anything that could counter the truth that Trump lost. So, when ABC News’ “This Week” asked the senator to appear on its Sunday show to discuss the Jan. 6, 2020, attack on the Capitol, Rounds said his decision was simple: “Well, of course I will.”
But the backlash from speaking was swift. Rounds said he wasn’t looking to pick a fight with Trump, but that’s exactly what happened. The former president called Rounds a “jerk” in a statement. Rounds stood by what he said, and argued there are many more Republicans like him — and they need to speak up.
“If we want to keep the trust and gain the trust of more individuals that are wondering, we have to probably say it a little bit louder and in more places that many of us normally either aren’t invited to talk or have chosen not to get into the fray,” Rounds told The Associated Press in an interview this week.
Rounds got backup after Trump’s attack from several high-profile...
By JAMELLE BOUIE Donald Trump knew as well as anyone that he had lost the 2020 presidential election fair and square. He knew there was no conspiracy to commit voter fraud — no mysterious mail bal...