GOP Senator Doubles Down After Trump Calls Him a ‘Jerk’: ‘I Stand By My Statement’

Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) fired back at Donald Trump after the former president rebuked him for correctly stating that 2020 presidential election was fair.

Rounds appeared on Sunday’s This Week on ABC where he committed the cardinal sin against Trump: declaring the former president lost the election.

“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,” the senator stated. “If we simply look back and tell our people don’t vote because there’s cheating going on, then we’re going to put ourselves in a huge disadvantage.”

Rounds said it’s important that voters have confidence in elections.

Predictably, Trump aggressively responded to Rounds’ comments in a statement. He again falsely declared the 2020 election “fraudulent” and said of Rounds, “I will never endorse this jerk again.”

Rounds issued his own statement in response on Monday.

“I’m disappointed but not surprised by the former president’s reaction,” he said. “However, the facts remain the same. I stand by my statement. The former president lost the 2020 election.”

Rounds noted that “there was no evidence of widespread fraud that would have altered the results of the election. To that point, nearly all of my Senate Republican colleagues acknowledged this last January.”

The senator commended former Vice President Mike Pence for presiding over the certification of the 2020 election, saying he “acted with integrity.”

He concluded, “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. 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.”