Republican senator Mike Rounds (S.D) is not backing down even when faced with harsh criticism from Donald Trump for admitting that the 2020 presidential election was fair.
“I’m disappointed but not surprised by the former president’s reaction. However, the facts remain the same. I stand by my statement. The former president lost the 2020 election,” Rounds said in a statement on Monday. “If we’re being honest, there was no evidence of widespread fraud that would have altered the results of the election.”
“As a Republican Party, our focus should be on what lies ahead, not what’s in the past. Elections are about growing support for your party, not further dividing it,” Rounds continued. “Attacking Republicans certainly isn’t going to result in a winning formula. Neither is telling citizens not to vote. If we are going to win in 2022 and 2024, we have to move forward together.”
Rounds drew the ire of the former president after an interview on ABC Sunday where he said the election was fair and Trump lost.
“While there were some irregularities, there were none of the irregularities which would have risen to the point where they would have changed the vote outcome in a single state,” Rounds said. “The election was fair, as fair as we’ve seen. We simply did not win the election, as Republicans, for the presidency.”
Trump lashed out the senator in a statement on Monday, asking if he was “crazy or just stupid?” and vowed never to endorse him again.
“Is he crazy or just stupid?” Trump said, adding: “The only reason he did this is because he got my endorsement and easily won his state in 2020, so now he thinks he has time, and those are the only ones, the weak, who will break away. Even though his election will not be coming up for 5 years, I will never endorse this jerk again.”
