Sen. Mike Rounds said Tuesday he expects “more and more” people to acknowledge the results of the 2020 election were fair, signaling former President Donald Trump’s stolen election allegations are losing steam.
Mr. Trump this week lashed out at Mr. Rounds, calling the South Dakota Republican a “jerk” after he said the election was on the up and up.
“When we get asked the questions, I think more and more individuals will share with the public clearly they understand that the election was fair and that it is up to us to continue to tell people that No. 1, if we are going to be honest, the election results as we tabulated them are accurate and second of all that if we want to win election in the future we have to look beyond and we have to bring people back in and they have to trust and they have to believe we are telling the truth,” Mr. Rounds told reporters Tuesday on Capitol Hill.
Mr. Trump insists the election was stolen. He plans to repeat his claims at his first campaign-style rally of the year Saturday in Arizona.
The list of the guest speakers includes Reps. Paul Gosar, Andy Biggs and Debbie Lesko, as well as gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake and My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell.
Mr. Trump scoffed at Mr. Rounds’ recent comments, issuing a statement Monday that asked: “Is he crazy or just stupid?”
“It’s RINOs like this that are allowing the Democrats to destroy our Nation!” Mr. Trump said.
Mr. Rounds responded by standing his ground.
“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.”
Sen. Mitt Romney, Utah Republican, rushed to defend Mr. Rounds, saying a growing number of Republicans, the courts and the “right-leaning Wall Wall Street Journal editorial page agree: Joe Biden won the election.”
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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